Culture

and Architecture
 Culture is defined
as:
“Culture is the complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs,
habits and any capabilities acquired by man as a
member of society”
-Edward Taylor.

╺ Culture in its broadest sense is the cultivated behaviour, that is the totality of
persons learnt and accumulated experiences which are socially transmitted.
╺ Characterising one group and distinguishing from the other.
╺ A system of knowledge shared by relatively large group of people.

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Categories to define

╺ Descriptive - associated activities and behaviours

╺ Historic - Heritage and tradition associated with

group of people

╺ Normative - Rules and norms

╺ Psychological - Learning and problem solving

╺ Structural - Organizational elements

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Society and
Culture
Society: System of
interrelationships among people.

Culture: Meaning and information

associated with the social
network.

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 Symbols

Heroes

Manifestations of Rituals

Culture:
Values PRACTICES

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1.
TRANSITION HEADLINE

Let’s start with the first set of slides

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1.
TRANSITION HEADLINE

Let’s start with the first set of slides

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 Elements of Culture

1. Social organization

2. Customs and Traditions

3. Language

4. Arts and Literature

5. Religion

6. Form of Government

7. Economic System

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1.
TRANSITION HEADLINE

Let’s start with the first set of slides

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Culture is a living thing, it
never stops growing.
This growth is the result
of assimilation of social
values.
Cultural Heritage of craftsmanship, art or Architecture is a
response to local condition.

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 Factors influencing cultural change:

1. Technology

2. Environmental Change

3. Nascent ideas

4. Diffusion (Movement of customs and

ideas from one place to another)

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 Impact on
Architecture
╺ Culture is one of the many parameters that
influence the program and form of a building.
╺ This linkage lies in expression and
understanding.

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 ╺ Human developed cognitive abilities pushes him to utilize
available resources and establish a meaningful system.
╺ It leaves a strong impact on civilizations in return.
╺ Community seeks nostalgic relationship to Past.
╺ Architecture have ability to tell stories of past, the moment
you create a building there are many stories and details that
unfolds.

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Symbol vs representation
Cassirer’s concept of a symbol is not in accordance with the normative understanding of the word, as
defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “a written character or mark used to represent
something; a letter, figure, or sign conventionally standing for some object, process, etc.”Cassirer’s
use of the word “symbol” does not agree with this contemporary definition; and actually, this
definition is the antithesis of what Cassirer means when he discusses symbolic forms. In Cassirer’s
philosophy the word “representation” would be the appropriate substitute for the conventional use
of the word “symbol.” Cassirer perceived representations to be “artificial,” as “arbitrary,” as “cloaks of
an idea,” or as “mechanistic reproductions” Thus, the contemporary use of the word “symbol” (i.e.,
“representation”) is incorrect since it is a one‐ dimensional imitation of a multi‐dimensional form.
Indeed, for Cassirer, “representation and truth seem entirely different things” The etymology of the
word “symbol” is closer to Cassirer’s use of the word symbol. “Symbol” originated in the Greek
language as a construct of two words: sym (or “syn”, a prefix meaning “with” or “together with”) and
the root of bolos (a throw). Thus, a symbol was a throwing (or putting) together into one piece. A
symbol is a unified construct. The “particulars” and the “universal” of a construct are one and the
same thing. The form, structure, and aspects of a construct are supportive of and definitive of the
whole. As Cassirer stated: “the whole is not obtained from its parts, but every notion of a part already
encompasses the notion of the whole, not as content, but as to general structure and form” .Thus,
every particular is definitive of the whole. Now, contrast a representation to that of a symbolic
construct. A representation might appear to be denotive of the whole; however this is false on many
levels.

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● Plan symbolism remained exclusive in the
sphere of religion after antiquity, and its
traditions gradually disappeared in the course
of the 19th century.
● The modern plan is determined by problems of
form (space-mass relationships, etc.) and by
the practical demands of use rather than by
symbolic communication.
● The virtual absence of traditional symbols in
modern architecture is evidence of the failure
of these symbols to express the cultural
patterns of the 20th century. In these times,
architecture, like painting, sculpture, and other
arts, has tended to be abstract, to emphasize
qualities of form rather than the
communication of familiar ideas through
symbols.

Power and status of president.

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What is happening
Now?

Architecture
Culture

Globalisation &
Cross-Culture Homogenisation of culture.
(Transitional)
DIFFUSION
Contemporary
Paradigm.

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Interpretation of courtyard in
different cultures

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 http://www.archidatum.com/gallery?id=6349&node=6377#

20 Sinithan Theater arts and cultural complex

Senegal (West Africa)
The Teopanzolco Cultural Center’s
triangular forms mirror nearby Aztec
pyramids to create, said Broid, a
place where “contemporary cultural
life establishes an ongoing dialogue
with our past.” —Julia Zorthian

Mexico

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Piano he describes the Tjibaou Cultural Center, as “the most reckless of my
many ventures into other fields.” He explained further that the project
addresses the difficulties of finding a way to express the traditions of the
Pacific in modern language. His concept is a genuine village composed on
ten structures of different sizes and functions, the largest being as tall as a
nine story building. The ten structures of the center are organized into three
villages: one is devoted to exhibitions; another is for administrative staff,
historians, and other offices; the third is for creative activities such as dance,
painting, sculpture and music. The constructions are, as Piano puts it, “an
expression of the harmonious relationship with the environment, that is
typical of the local culture. They are curved structures resembling huts, built
out of wooden joists and ribs; they are containers of an archaic appearance,
whose interiors are equipped with all the possibilities offered by modern
technology.

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 SANE Architecture's Taichung City Cultural Centre: Entry
in the Future Project Awards 2014
An architecture and an urban space unique to Taiwan's climate and the culture of
Taichung, a cultural library and municipal arts museum that "synergizes" art, education
and recreation. The project integrates the park landscape to form a key cultural
landmark and an entryway gesture into the park. In such a complex environment the
architect "proposed a light structure", with a key concept being the idea of
permeability.

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 What is Happening in Islamabad?

What Culture is there?

How will you Manifest it in spaces?

How it’s no more the concern of symbolism for a cultural

building?

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