Meaningful Architecture - then and now

At our final intensive assignment Herb wanted us to think about the implementation of the NCARB IDP process and our thesis statement. My thesis statement on “Why create poetic or meaningful Architecture? From the xs to the XL” had a question raised by a colleague. The question was “How Architecture becomes meaningful? I think Architecture is meaningful to everyone in many different ways. It depends on how we occupy the space as well as our place in time of living. From the origins of humanity it was for shelter, to recognize death, protection, and then religion, so on and so forth.

On my quest to explain “Why”, I started not by defining the poetic, but by thinking about what is the meaningful part. Perhaps because this question was raised, otherwise I would probably have gone straight for the definition. Meaningful Architecture can be very broad and I don’t think I will ever be able to cover all the reasons why and how we occupy our spaces depending on our cultural backgrounds.

From the thinking of what meaningful is, I ended up in Why was Architecture ever created? Shelter is my first response, was the cave man inspired by the cave itself in the rock formation? The first “Hut” or “Igloo” was generated as a result of the need to relocate, agglomerate or necessity of space. Time passed by and humans created tools for hunting and defense; therefore Architecture evolved. This exercise of developing tools for defense seems to be still implemented in today’s world. Items such as stainless steel and microwaves were invented as a result of defense necessity. I wonder what came out of the present war (in relation to technological advance only). Google earth?

The ancient world of Mesopotamia and Babylonia with their monumental Architecture created by settlers evolved the earlier agglomerations of settlers into our first fortified villages.

On two of my recent trips this year I visited Jinotega, Nicaragua and the town of Sandwich, Massachusetts. These two towns had different types of meaningful Architecture.

In Nicaragua, the outskirts of Jinotega had many little structures along the side of the road. They were mini houses occupied by local peasants. The walls were constructed of horizontal wood boards and corrugated metal panels, soil floors, no bathrooms, no electricity or running water. The forest and single latrines are used in lieu of toilets, water creeks are used for water consumption. Some of the more sophisticated structures had electricity and satellite TV, but no hard floors, this was unsettling to me.

The town of Sandwich has an original house erected by early settlers from Europe. The dwellings were shaped like their saltboxes. The kitchens provided heat, cooking and space to gather. There was no electrical power or running water. The settlers shower only once a year, mainly in June because the season is warmer. Therefore people were only clean during this month. The Story tellers claimed the tradition of June weddings are a result of this.

Meaningful Architecture in these two experiences is similar in that they both provide some type of shelter, and that was important to the dweller. In Nicaragua, the dwelling, aside from sheltering, was also located to provide access to the road to get to work and to be off the Town grid (cost of city living). In Sandwich, the dwelling was a symbol of ownership and prosperity.

According to the local town history early U.S. settlers erected structures that took a bit of time to build, a year or so after working everyday. They also had thought about a layout that was functional to all of their occupants. The little structures in Nicaragua seem as they were put together in a short period of time, four walls, a door, a roof and called it home. The early U.S. settlers could have built just four walls as well.

What’s also consistent in Architecture, regardless of the occupancy, is that people create spaces or places to make them their own. By this I mean the body occupying a space. The argument I like to present is that Architecture should not be about just putting up four walls or to say who we are and declare our social status. Architecture should create Poetic spaces that allow inhabitants of all races and cultures to interpret and define their own space.

Poetic Architecture should allow the user to celebrate joy, delight, mourning, love, meditate, feel anger, compassion, etc. As Herb commented, this definition of Poetic Architecture is expected to change, grow and become more enriched. Already a bit of research and comments from colleagues have provided me with more inquiries into how it was in the past and where we are heading. The current heading of Architecture is what troubles me, the past is done.

Because “Meaningful” can be many things to many people, the challenge then becomes creating meaning for the structure's intended occupants – versus defining "meaning" in one vast proverbial bucket.

Outskirts of Jinotega, Nicaragua


Sandwich, Massachusetts