Walking around newly built areas, one can observe a lack of identity and character in the architecture of these places. Recent times have seen a rise in minimalist and uniform architecture, with numerous buildings adopting identical forms. As a result of their similar architectural styles, individual structures become lost in the masses, creating an impression of uniformity throughout towns and even whole countries.
Modern doesn’t always equate to better; this is especially true of modern architecture’s aesthetics. While the functionality of modern buildings may be better than that of previous years, its structural beauty is not. It seems that we are moving towards uniformity, functionality, and easiness to build over the aesthetics of a building’s design. It appears that architectural design is becoming more homogenous as ease of construction and functionality take precedence over aesthetics. Although seemingly trivial, the aesthetics of architecture play an important role in shaping communities as it physically alters our environment which in turn impacts the people living in those areas and influences their culture.
But what counts as beautiful? Surely people have different opinions on the beauty of something, right?
Beauty has often been categorised as subjective by various aesthetics philosophers, yet there are patterns with what people find visually pleasing that allow us to quantify the beauty of architecture. Firstly, nature innately possesses aesthetic value across populations of people, therefore donning buildings constructed with natural materials like limestone and wood an inherent beauty. Consequently, symmetry, fractals, details and ornaments, organised complexity, and curves are visual qualities that attract the human eye, largely because they are prevalent in the natural world. People’s preferences over certain visual qualities may vary, but most largely find these features beautiful or at least visually stimulating.
But why does this matter? Why should architecture be as beautiful as it is functional?
A study has shown that there is a strong correlation between a place’s beauty and people’s life satisfaction. Architecture comprises the majority of people’s environment, particularly in more urban and populated areas. Thus a lack of aesthetically conscious design choices in the construction of buildings will majorly impact an area’s beauty. The importance of an area’s beauty has also been deemed amongst the top three determining factors in where people choose to live, as found in another study. Since we spend a lot of time encircled by the built environment, its visual qualities play a crucial role in establishing the level of beauty in our lives.
In addition to directly engaging with structural, historical, political, economic, and social aspects of society, architecture is a reflection of culture in every civilization. As contemporary architecture becomes increasingly more minimalist and uniform across the world, we are eradicating culture and decreasing the rich cultural diversity that exists across the globe. Moreover, many claim that for architecture to be beautiful, it must be reflective of the identity of the society that builds them, yet modern design entirely disregards this principle.
There are a plethora of factors that contribute to why architectural beauty is slowly dying out, why modern structures lack emphasis on the beauty of architecture.
The most significant overarching factor that has led modern architecture to draw more focus on functionality rather than aesthetics is economy and finance. A Guardian article claims that modern buildings are “the products of meanness and greed” and this is often the case to some extent. Economic efficiency is becoming a higher priority for real estate developers during the construction process in order to optimise floor space and reduce expenses. The majority of the present architectural sector is commercial, therefore many businesses’ main objective is to minimise expenses while increasing revenue. Thus elements of aesthetic flair and decorum are removed from building plans as its use is not valued.
The economisation of buildings leads to more importance being placed on functionality, because as long as a building serves its purpose it is functional and is able to generate money for those involved. Furthermore, when building costs are kept as low as possible, less deliberate design decisions are made that detract from a building’s aesthetics. Thus resulting in there may be erroneous choices about certain architectural characteristics, poor proportions, or other creative law oversights. Additionally, due to property developers being more concerned with the efficiency of construction, modern construction procedures compartmentalise and systematise the various sections of the structure, making them resemble the assembly of factory-made packages that are thrown together on the construction site.
The leading cause for the lack of emphasis on aesthetics in architecture is money being chosen over beauty. It is understandable that real estate development is ultimately a business and that it places a priority on cutting costs, but this shouldn’t come at the expense of architectural beauty. This highlights the issue of human greed as capitalist values are prioritised and the repercussions that people and societies will face, illustrated in the mentioned studies. If architecture continues in this minimalist and uniform contemporary style, our entire environment will become homogeneous with cultures and societies lacking in diversity.
Works Cited
Nader Sammouri. “Why is Most Modern Architecture Ugly?” ADF Web Magazine, 11 June 2022, www.adfwebmagazine.jp/en/architect/why-is-most-modern-architecture-ugly.
Ettehad, Sheida, et al. “The Role of Culture in Promoting Architectural Identity.” Ettehad | European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences: Proceedings, 2 Dec. 2015, https://european-science.com/eojnss_proc/article/view/4181
Keskeys, Paul. “10 Architectural Sins Committed in Suburbia.” Journal, Sept. 2019, https://architizer.com/blog/practice/details/failed-architecture-suburban-housing/
Leyden, Kevin M., et al. “Understanding the Pursuit of Happiness in Ten Major Cities.” Urban Affairs Review, vol. 47, no. 6, SAGE Publishing, Apr. 2011, pp. 861–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087411403120.
Moore, Rowan. “The Rise and Rise of Ugly Buildings.” The Guardian, 16 Nov. 2020, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/nov/15/the-rise-and-rise-of-ugly-buildings-ilona-rose-house-charing-cross-road.
oliSUNvia. “The LOSS of Architectural BEAUTY: America’s Ugly Housing Developments.” YouTube, 24 Jan. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8kRDCZfKvI.
Parsons, Glenn. “Beauty and Public Policy.” Torontomu, Aug. 2014, www.academia.edu/1140538/Beauty_and_Public_Policy.
Sky News Australia. “Modern Architecture Is ‘brutally Ugly.’” YouTube, 20 Mar. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_1upo-L9Pw.
The Aesthetic City. “What Makes Buildings Beautiful (and Why Beauty Does Matter).” YouTube, 21 Oct. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9pg2j2oGy0.