Kurt Brandle

Meaning and Aesthetics in Architecture Kurt Brandle

Every thing we encounter has for us more or less meaning. It is what we infer as a particular understanding of the thing. But we also provide meaning by how we live and by what we produce. In architecture we experience this duality as deriving impressions from it and as giving expressions to it. This implies that meaning in architecture, like in all other fields, is process and result. Decision making is involved with judgments based on theoretical and practical issues. The activities are driven by the design factors of purpose, context and realization. This text proceeds from explaining philosophical foundations of meaning to interpreting physical designs of architecture. At the center of discussion is design thinking which has rational and emotional components, making it profoundly aesthetic. The concept of design narratives is developed as the dialog between the content and the form of projects. The text is profusely supported by illustrations in color and, in the e-book edition, hyperlinked with extensive references. Meaning and Aesthetics in Architecture, while a personal account, provides a comprehensive basis for readers to develop their own thoughts and examples.