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Architecture is the study and practice of designing structures, especially habitable ones.

It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings or other structures. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. The practice of architecture itself, which began in the prehistoric era, has been used as a way of expressing culture by civilizations on all seven continents. For this reason, architecture is considered to be a form of art. Texts on architecture have been written since ancient times. The earliest surviving text on architectural theories is the 1st century BC treatise De architectura by the Roman architect Vitruvius, according to whom a good building embodies firmitas, utilitas, and venustas (durability, utility, and beauty). Centuries later, Leon Battista Alberti developed his ideas further, seeing beauty as an objective quality of buildings to be found in their proportions. In the 19th century, Louis Sullivan declared that "form follows function". "Function" began to replace the classical "utility" and was understood to include not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological, and cultural dimensions. The idea of sustainable architecture was introduced in the late 20th century. Architecture began as rural, oral vernacular architecture that developed from trial and error to successful replication. Ancient urban architecture was preoccupied with building religious structures and buildings symbolizing the political power of rulers until Greek and Roman architecture shifted focus to civic virtues. Indian and Chinese architecture influenced forms all over Asia and Buddhist architecture in particular took diverse local flavors. Modern architecture began after World War I as an avant-garde movement that sought to develop a completely new style appropriate for a new post-war social and economic order focused on meeting the needs of the middle and working classes. Many architects became disillusioned with modernism which they perceived as ahistorical and anti-aesthetic, and postmodern and contemporary architecture developed.

Gothic architecture, Pugin believed, was the only "true Christian form of architecture." The 19th-century English art critic, John Ruskin, in his Seven Lamps of Architecture, published 1849, was much narrower in his view of what constituted architecture.

As human cultures developed and knowledge began to be formalized through oral traditions and practices, building became a craft, and architecture became the term used to describe the highly formalized and respected aspects of the craft.

Roman architecture was influenced by Greek architecture as they incorporated many Greek elements into their building practices.

Asian architecture developed differently from European architecture, and the Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh architectural styles have different characteristics. Some Asian architecture showed great regional diversity, in particular Buddhist architecture.

Around the beginning of the 20th century, general dissatisfaction with the emphasis on revivalist architecture and elaborate decoration gave rise to many new lines of thought that served as precursors to Modern architecture.

One such reaction to the cold aesthetic of modernism and Brutalism is the school of metaphoric architecture, which includes such things as bio morphism and zoomorphic architecture, both using nature as the primary source of inspiration and design.

This major shift in architecture has also changed architecture schools to focus more on the environment. Concurrently, the recent movements of New Urbanism, Metaphoric architecture, contemporary Traditional architecture and New Classical architecture promote a sustainable approach towards construction that appreciates and develops smart growth, architectural tradition, and classical design.

Urban design is an interdisciplinary field that uses elements of many built environment professions, including landscape architecture, urban planning, architecture, civil engineering and municipal engineering.

Computer architecture, a set of rules and methods that describe the functionality, organization, and implementation of computer systems with software architecture, hardware architecture and network architecture covering more specific aspects.

The term 'seismic architecture' or 'earthquake architecture' was first introduced in 1985 by Robert Reitherman.

Quick Facts

• Ancient urban architecture was preoccupied with building religious structures and buildings symbolizing the political power of rulers until Greek and Roman architecture shifted focus to civic virtues.
• Indian and Chinese architecture influenced forms all over Asia and Buddhist architecture in particular took diverse local flavors.
• Architecture began as rural, oral vernacular architecture that developed from trial and error to successful replication.
• Gothic architecture, Pugin believed, was the only "true Christian form of architecture." The 19th-century English art critic, John Ruskin, in his Seven Lamps of Architecture, published 1849, was much narrower in his view of what constituted architecture.
• Computer architecture, a set of rules and methods that describe the functionality, organization, and implementation of computer systems with software architecture, hardware architecture and network architecture covering more specific aspects.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Architecture". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.