Architecture

the confluence of art, technology, politic, and nature

Timothy Casey

pp. 53-74

in: Robert Wood, Nature, artforms, and the world around us, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017

Abstract

This chapter discusses the most pervasive art form. We live our lives and locate the arts in and around buildings. Architecture bridges the gap between the useful and the beautiful. Different styles and functions have been made possible by advances in technology. The medieval cathedral presents itself as a Gesamtkunst filled with meaning and is compared with the modern skyscraper; still, the relation to the earth is underscored by the treatment of the lower stories.