Architecture โ€“ the hallmark of humanity

Jan Wadowski

Abstract

Each civilisation is defined by its attitude to time. The way in which time is understood also determines the way of life. Time is incessantly shaped by us; in our modern times, it is more often done through communication and the speed of information transfer. We can also form space which is โ€˜crystallised timeโ€™ [3, p. 411]. As Leibniz put it, this constitutes โ€˜order of co-existenceโ€™ of things. Civilisation models its space-time thanks to architecture because Man is a spatiotemporal creature [10, p. 154]. โ€˜Spatiotemporalโ€™ nature of man means that man builds his own culturally determined experience of dimensions. It is reflected in manโ€™s plans and designs. According to Kopaliล„ski, architecture is a domain which organises and shapes space in order to satisfy human needs; science of designing and erecting buildings [5, p. 36]. Of course, the definition of โ€˜needโ€™ is not clear-cut inasmuch as we can have needs which are โ€˜down-to-earthโ€™, for example, protection from cold or โ€˜sublimeโ€™, for instance, a possibility of having a place of worship. In other words, if we wish to think about designing and erecting a shelter that is also beautiful, we need advanced cognitive abilities as well as skills of transforming reflections and visions into a material realization.

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