Classical architecture, permanent in time
Many people adore classical architecture, I include myself in that population that likes such architecture. Classicism has very important values that, by the way, are extremely linked to history. The classic movement is characterized by being hierarchical, orderly, symmetrical, formal and with a great ornamental presence.
Classical architecture has been used by all those people, families or institutions that have a certain power. If you look at many palaces, we will see that they are based on a classic architecture and inside there are a large number of ornaments. Not only inside, but also outside, in many cases. In the case of temples, many different theaters and places of a public nature and that enjoyed a certain status, they are built under classical architectural rules. The town halls, many parliaments, residences of Heads of State or Government have a classic architecture. If we look, we will see that many of the buildings of a political or institutional nature are purely symmetrical. In addition, most of these buildings have an architecture on the first floor, different from the remaining levels. These types of buildings have various ornaments on their facades. When reading this, we will imagine old buildings, but they do not have to be buildings of great antiquity. Recently, symmetrical geometry buildings are being constructed, following the parameters of classical architecture. But which are these buildings?
Most of these are skyscrapers or tall buildings. Many of them are office buildings, in some cases, of large multinationals. Well, we see that large companies build modern buildings, but with classic geometric characteristics. Skyscrapers are usually symmetrical, are monumental buildings and in many cases are hierarchical. If we see how are the skyscrapers of New York, Chicago, Seattle, among others, we will see that many of these skyscrapers are divided vertically into different blocks, because as the building grows in height, the levels are smaller.
Therefore, no matter how time passes, it does not matter that the society in which we live evolves. We will always be faced with a use of the elements of classical architecture in the design of important buildings, of those that indicate some kind of power. For example, the city of Detroit is a symbol of an opulence now in decline. Well, if it weren't for the tall skyscrapers that characterize the city, nobody would wonder if that city was relevant. Yes, it was, nothing more and nothing less than the capital of the American car industry.
The buildings, beyond fulfilling the functions that the developer and the architect stipulate, have a symbolic component. Well, that component is what characterizes the building. When architects design a space, they take into account various variables, all of them related to what the promoter wants, but it requires combining those variables with the budget cap and the technical fields that have an impact on the design of the space. However, all these variables work, if all of them coincide in the search for beauty, in the search for attraction and, above all, in the search to give an identity to the building.
When time passes, buildings are rehabilitated or demolished. Unfortunately, there are many buildings of great architectural or historical value that are demolished for technical reasons, since many of them have damages that cannot be solved permanently. However, many symbolic buildings are rehabilitated with the objective, both to take advantage of the building, and to maintain the symbology of that building. Well, surely, we will realize that most of the old buildings that exist today are buildings that were important in the past, which is why most of these buildings are of classical architecture or have some classical architectural elements.
As it is not accidental, classical architecture buildings symbolize power and continue to do so. The buildings that symbolize power at a certain time in history, tend to remain in time, because of the importance they had in their past. However, its architecture, currently present symbolizes that power. In this case the power is old, like its architecture, but the architecture can be seen today and through it and the historical data or facts that we know, we can appreciate the importance of that building at a given time. For this reason, buildings that, through their classical architecture, allow us to find their roots of power, tend to be rehabilitated in the most exquisite way possible, in order to remain in time. Therefore, the classic tends to remain in time, nobody wants it to disappear.
EDUARD PAGÈS RIBERAYGUA
Photo by Cristina Gottardi on Unsplash
