As a subject in architectural schools, I am aware that history ranks somewhere below the theory of structures in popularity, and considered the dullest of the subjects ever, dealing with things from the dead past.
Twenty-five years ago, when I started teaching history as a subject in architecture, the first question I had in mind was not how it should be taught but why it should be taught at all - what is its relevance to the present day architectural education?
I think I can answer that question now. I have since realised that we need to study history to make sense of what we are today. The concept of space & space-making, the behavioral patterns, impressions people have about scale, grandeur and perception of built form - all these have been shaped by history and have a direct bearing on the architectural design of the present.
But by far the most important aspect of history is the responses to the issues to ecology, sustainability in the architecture of the past and the reverence shown towards the gifts of the nature by all the ancient civilizations of the world.
With this understanding of the reason of teaching or learning history, it can indeed be made a very interesting & highly relevant subject in architecture, and this, indeed is the reason for this blog in the first place.
Twenty-five years ago, when I started teaching history as a subject in architecture, the first question I had in mind was not how it should be taught but why it should be taught at all - what is its relevance to the present day architectural education?
I think I can answer that question now. I have since realised that we need to study history to make sense of what we are today. The concept of space & space-making, the behavioral patterns, impressions people have about scale, grandeur and perception of built form - all these have been shaped by history and have a direct bearing on the architectural design of the present.
But by far the most important aspect of history is the responses to the issues to ecology, sustainability in the architecture of the past and the reverence shown towards the gifts of the nature by all the ancient civilizations of the world.
With this understanding of the reason of teaching or learning history, it can indeed be made a very interesting & highly relevant subject in architecture, and this, indeed is the reason for this blog in the first place.
