Raghad Ibrahim

Citation:

Mofeed, R., "THE SENSE OF ARCHITECTURAL BEAUTY: REREADING THE AESTHETIC THEORY OF SANTAYANA IN ARCHITECTURE", Al-Azhar Engineering 8th International Conference, Cairo, 26 December, 2004.

Date Presented:

Abstract:

The subject of beauty is as old as philosophy; it was a matter of both interest and contradiction, however the most remarkable characteristic of the sense of beauty remains undefined. In relation, studies of aesthetic in architecture have many difficulties, due to the shortage of applied aesthetic studies in addition to the lack of clear philosophical bases.
"The sense of beauty" by G. Santayana (1896) is one of the distinguished philosophical studies that tackled the subject of beauty in a clear, simple and comprehensive way; based on the naturalistic psychology. The objective of the paper is to examine the applicability and validity of Santayana's aesthetic theory as a critical and analytical frame work in architecture. The methodology of the study depends on rereading and reviewing the main frame of Santayana's theory from the point of view of selected architectural writings such as Rasmussen (1959), Schulz (1965) and Lang (1987). In addition the study presents some recent local architectural examples that clarify the discussed philosophical and architectural concepts.
The paper runs three lines of inquiry. First is an introduction that outlines Santayana's vision to the nature of beauty and the main frame of his theory, second comes the analysis of the main categories of beauty; (material, form and expression). Finally the paper concludes and assesses some guidelines to approach the sense of architectural beauty within the borders of Santayana's aesthetic theory.