The Language of Architecture

"From its very inception artists conceded the ability of the photographic process to record the appearance of things. By assuming that the rules that governed classical painting were axiomatic, photographers at first tended to ape painted pictures, with some ludicrous results.
Later the film-makers made the same assumption and attempted to photograph stage-plays. It was not long, however, before the early cinematographers also appreciated that they were working with a new language."

Rodick Carmichael; Orienteering: Painting in the Landscape.

In the Industrial Age, the language of architecture was the classical one.
Rebuild the Parthenon.
Replay the old world.
Ornament and decoration of centuries ago.
The step from stone to new materials cut the link.
The bride stripped bare.
Without the frills, the dress was plain.
Consummate the marriage.
Begat the modern box.
A window full of offices.
A window less place to shop.
The classic language has become mute.
Nothing more to say.
Fill the silence with a new dialogue.

In the Information Age, language structures are the backbone of discussion and practice.
Music.
Mathematics.
Art.
Architecture.
What language shall we speak?
A dialogue between form and construction is a language a computer can speak.


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