Art is a human discipline that explains the fragility, temporariness, and even potential immortality of sentiments and emotions. They are the projected visions of people, and viewing them means seeing through the mind and the heart of the artist. A lot of people think that art is unnecessarily profound, and that dealing with the vicissitudes of life is a more practical approach to living. They even believe that art is difficult to understand, as you will also have to find it. Truth be told, art is everywhere. You can see it in many forms, shapes, and sizes. And if you are looking for obvious signs of artistic marvels, just look at the buildings and structures — the architecture itself is a form of art.
Appreciating architecture can do a lot of good things for you. First, you will be able to understand and appreciate a piece of functional art. You will also be able to get inspiration for your next interior design or even major architectural projects. If architecture appreciation is quite new to you, here are some of the things you may want to keep in mind:
Do not force it
One of the best ways to appreciate architecture is by letting it happen. You just cannot force it; otherwise, that is not appreciation. You visit sites and buildings because you want to feel something — yes, appreciation can be intuitive. It is like looking at paintings and sculptures; you need to find the pieces (in this case, designs) that emotionally move you.
Look at the details
Sometimes, the beauty of architecture does not lie in its grandiosity and bigness. The small and minute details can capture your attention, which in turn may make you feel something. For one, if you are visiting post-colonial structures, you may see that the porticos of the buildings have Greek-inspired columns. But what may capture your attention may be the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian details. The same applies to modern architectures. You may be looking at the brutalist grandeur of Bauhaus, but the architectural ironmongery may spark an interest.
Read up on history
There are occasions when beauty will be appreciated later on. What precedes is history, and reading up on the history of a building or structure may change the way you view it. For instance, the history behind the construction of China’s Forbidden City may amaze you. Similarly, the reason behind the building of the Eiffel Tower is also interesting.
Take pictures
You are appreciating architecture, so you might as well preserve what you might have felt. And this can be easily done by taking pictures. However, be more creative and strategic when it comes to taking architectural photos.
Architecture appreciation is one of the activities and endeavours that will help you understand the finer things in life. It is like looking at pieces of fine art that you actually get to interact every day. You can further train your eye on this if you keep on taking part in architecture appreciation sessions.