Content is the subject matter of architecture, the element in architectural expression that communicates specific meanings that interpret to society the functions and techniques of buildings. Symbols of function
Society requires that architecture not only communicate the aspirations of its institutions but also fulfill their practical needs. Differences in expression, apart from differences in planning, distinguish the forms of architectural types (the house from the church, etc.), the kinds of use (the Catholic from the Protestant church), and the traditions and customs of users (the English from the Swiss Protestant church). When architectural forms become the vehicles of content—in plan, elevation, and decoration—they are symbolic. Their symbolism can be understood consciously or unconsciously, by association (e.g., spire = church) to a building one has seen before and by the fact that it suggests certain universal experiences (e.g., vertical forms “rise”; low roofs “envelop”). One comprehends the meaning of symbols that are new, as well as those that are known, by association, because the laws of statics restrain builders from putting them into forms so completely unfamiliar that they do not suggest some tradition, just as the structure of language permits endless new meanings but retains a fairly constant vocabulary. The meaning of architectural symbols—or of words—may even change, but the process must be both logical and gradual, for, if the change is irrational, the purpose—communication—is lost.
The architectural plan, when used symbolically, communicates through its shape. From prehistoric times and in many cultures, the circle, with its suggestion of the planets and other manifestations of nature, gained a symbolic, mystical significance and was used in the plans of houses, tombs, and religious structures. By slow processes it came to be employed for memoria and shrines and for hero cults in both the East and the West. When building techniques permitted, its symbolism often merged with that of the dome. In Hindu temples, the square (and the cross plans developed from it) expressed celestial harmony. The central-plan Christian church (circle, polygon, Greek cross, ellipse) fascinated the architects of the Renaissance with its symbolic and traditional values, and it is found in their drawings and treatises to the virtual exclusion of the more practical longitudinal basilicas that architects were often commissioned to build.
Plan symbolism remained almost exclusively in the sphere of religion after antiquity, and its traditions gradually disappeared in the course of the 19th century. The modern plan is determined by problems of form (space-mass relationships, etc.) and by the practical demands of use rather than by symbolic communication.
In elevation the most consistent symbolic forms have been the dome, the tower, the stairway, the portal, and the colonnade. Domes imply the meanings of the circle and more, since a dome is a covering. Long before masonry domes could be built, the hemisphere was associated with the heavens as a “cosmic canopy,” and throughout history domes have been decorated with stars and astrological symbols. In ancient Rome and among Christians and Indian Buddhists, the dome came to mean universal power. During the Renaissance it spread from religious structures to palaces and government buildings, retaining some of its implications of power. In the United States the national capitol is domed, and there are few state capitols without domes; the symbol has survived the loss of its original meanings. The tower, with origins in primitive nature rites, has consistently symbolized power. The Chinese pagoda extends central-plan symbolism into towers; many towers and spires rose from the northern European Gothic cathedral, and the medieval Italian city was a forest of towers erected by nobles in constant competition to express their supremacy. This meaning survives in modern skyscrapers; their height is more frequently boasted of than their efficiency or beauty.
U.S. Capitol buildingU.S. Capitol building, Washington, D.C.Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock
Architectural elements conceived to facilitate the use of buildings may also take on symbolic significance. The stairway, employed in the past to give “monumentality” to important buildings, frequently became more expressive than convenient, especially in Baroque palaces. Portals, from the time of ancient Egyptian temple pylons and Babylonian city gates, became monuments in themselves, used to communicate a heightened significance to what lay behind them. In the Gothic cathedral they became the richest element of the facade—a translation of biblical doctrine into stone. Since the development of the classical Greek temple, the colonnade on the exterior of buildings has borne similar implications.
Such symbols have become archaic in modern culture and appear as a sign of resistance to new forms. This resistance is especially evident in the popular symbolism of domestic architecture, where the atmosphere of the home is often expressed by cottage-like roofs, shutters, trellises, mullioned windows, grilles, and other associations with a more peaceful past.
Decoration, the most easily recognized medium of content, communicates meaning either through architectural elements or through the figural arts (sculpture, painting, mosaic, stained glass, etc.). The architectural elements used decoratively, such as the classical orders, usually originate in technique and in time lose their structural significance to become symbols. In ancient Rome and from the Renaissance to the 20th century, the formal Grecian orders were applied to buildings of many different techniques as expressions of the continuing influence of Greek institutions. Similarly, the new vocabulary of Gothic architecture, developed with new building techniques (the pointed arch, the flying buttress, etc.), became in later periods a source for religious and romantic symbolism. The Art Nouveau of the turn of the 20th century, a system of ornament based on floral and other organic forms, survived for only two decades, perhaps because its symbols were neither drawn from a tradition nor derived from a structural system. (Architectural ornament will be further treated below.)
staircase in the Hôtel TasselStaircase in the Hôtel Tassel, Brussels, designed by Victor Horta in the Art Nouveau style, 1892–93.Ch..Bastin / J.Evrard/DeA Picture Library
The function of the figural arts in conveying content is a subject outside the scope of this article, but its importance for architecture must be mentioned. The figural arts not only offer the means of expressing more specific ideas than any architectural symbols, but in many architectural styles they define the character of mass and space. The sculptures of the Hindu temple, the mosaics of the Byzantine church, and the stuccoes of Moorish palaces are not ornamental applications; they determine the form of the building itself.
The virtual absence of traditional symbols in modern architecture is evidence of the failure of these symbols to express the cultural patterns of the 20th century. In these times, architecture, like painting, sculpture, and other arts, has tended to be abstract, to emphasize qualities of form rather than the communication of familiar ideas through symbols. Expression of technique
The second aspect of content is the communication of the structural significance of materials and methods. Its purpose is to interpret the way in which architecture is put together. The characteristics of materials that are important in expressing design techniques are the properties of their composition (e.g., structure, weight, durability) and the way they are used in structure. Their properties may be expressed and interpreted by the treatment of the surface, and their use may be expressed by emphasis on the dimensions and joining of the building units into which they are formed.
The hardness, weight, and crystalline composition of stone masonry traditionally have been emphasized by devices not necessarily connected with structural methods: rustication (finishing in rough, uneven surfaces), drafting (more refined, linear cutting), and polishing. Niches and other indentations, projecting courses, or frames around openings suggest massiveness. In nonbearing walls, a smooth, unbroken surface implies thinness. The use of stone or brick masonry in construction is emphasized by clarifying the limits of each block and by the amount of mortar used and by distinguishing lintels, arches, and other specific members from the construction of the wall. The properties of wood are suggested by revealing and emphasizing its texture in load-bearing members and by treating the sheathing of light wood frames in patterns (of shingling or boarding) that communicate thinness. The plasticity of concrete is shown by freedom in modelling and its use in construction by emphasizing the impressions of the wooden forms in which it is cast. The sections of light metal curtain walls are frequently stamped into geometric patterns to illustrate their nonbearing character. Materials that must be covered for protection, such as unfired brick and the steel used in framing, are not adaptable to this type of communication.