Architecture and Ideology

RENATA JADREŠIN‐MILIĆ, Teaching Assistant
Faculty of Architecture, Belgrade University, renata@arh.bg.ac.rs
THE IDEOLOGY OF THE VISUAL IN CONTEMPORARY
ARCHITECTURE
Abstract |
The revival of formalism in aesthetics and contemporary architecture coincides with an
increased interest in visual and formal properties of architecture. It is especially manifest in the
introduction of computers into the profession, which also opened new possibilities of the visual
and the formal in design. Drawings, models and animations are now the means for transferring
specific compositional and spatial characteristics of the project to a range of interested parties,
such as customers, workers at the site, or the general public.
However, this is not only characteristic of the modern era. It is well known that since Vitruvius
and the theory of optical corrections, building has been recognized as a means to convey the
idea of a spatial composition. The importance of the visual experience of architecture has been
tremendous. There is very similar understanding by which the building itself is not so much an
aesthetic object as the idea of architecture that is visually perceived, which permeates much of
the Renaissance architectural theory. Theoretical discussions of the 15th and 16th centuries,
arisen from a new awareness of the geometric nature of visual experience and the ability to
mechanically reproduce the image, which were in turn prompted by the discovery of
perspective and versatile visual research in this field, today are quite actual, relevant and close
to modern thinking.
Theoretical views of many contemporary architects show that the interest has returned to the
visual in architecture. As a result of the digital revolution, the conquest of new tools to deal
with the spatial properties of architecture becomes a major preoccupation of the profession.
Such theoretical views constitute a coherent conceptual whole, and they also show the ideas
and values of how one perceives and experiences one’s society at a given moment. All
individuals share certain universal values, and universal, timeless principles are reflected in the
visual forms which do not require words, translation or explanation.
Key words |
visual properties, formal properties, spatial properties, image, idea, contemporary architecture
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