How many dimensions are there to architecture?

HOW MANY DIMENSIONS ARE THERE TO ARCHITECTURE?

Ever since the Renaissance, architecture has been defined through the Euclidean understanding of space. The contemporary designing infrastructure may also be seen as the newest iteration of building technology in three spatial dimensions. Yet the challenges of the 21^st century, such as the mounting environmental crisis, wealth inequality, social upheavals, wars, and the inability of architecture to employ the foundations of solidarity in order to intervene into such a world, put forward questions which may not be resolved solely within the space. The so-called "artificial intelligence" – in earnest merely efficient management of existing databases – is making strident inroads into architecture. The analogous issue of creativity and invention in architecture of today encompasses not only the optimal spatialisation of the programme and a consistent and technologically immaculate execution of the detail, but also decisions which carry wider consequences: to what extent do we go for new builds and when can the existent be used, the carbon footprint of the materials used, and the adaptability of the space to future uses not yet envisaged. One is therefore increasingly at a loss to comprehend the creativity and relevance of architecture without its ethical dimension, while vacuous and flawless images of individual architectural marvels are becoming ever more problematic. Why are we not evolving new technologies that would – rather than optimise the existing architectural work – enable the developmental breakthrough into new creative dimensions? To what extent do new technologies foster new creative possibilities, and when do they reduce architectural work to technocratic adherence to (mostly outdated) norms and technical requirements? How does technology define the dimensions of architectural thought and bring forth opportunities for inventions which would not merely reiterate old ideas in new forms? And finally, do new technologies represent a barrier or assist in evolving a new understanding of architectural creativity?

Blaž Budja, Miloš Kosec