Wojciech Odrobina -Beauty and functionality in architecture

In architecture beauty is invisible, or becomes invisible after its recognition. How paradoxical: the architects and all the professionals involved in creating a building tried hard to do their job well, and then, as if by magic, their visible work disappears

Beauty is a place to feel good. This phrase could serve as a summary of the continuous reflection on beauty and functionality in architecture.

One can come to a building, live or work in it, and feel welcome thanks to its architectural features. One may know that one feels this way, but to describe that state, often unconscious, is to finally define beauty, and to do so is a labyrinthine problem.

A consensual definition has been reached; However, each one has a concept of beauty armed with different sources and references, and one reacts to beauty according to them. One, if one comes to reflect on it, simply knows that it is in beauty and that it feels good there.

In architecture beauty is invisible, or becomes invisible after its recognition. How paradoxical: the architects and all the professionals involved in the creation of a building strove to do their job well, to give their best, and then, as if by magic, their visible work disappears for, in the At the same moment, give way to the "feeling good" of the individuals who live, even momentarily, in their construction.

Functional architecture's primary objective is to design according to the final function of the building to be built. 

Because of this, ornamentation has a secondary role and the decoration elements tend to be sober and abstract, fusing furniture with walls and using indirect lights over striking lighting. 

It stands out for incorporating new materials, such as iron, concrete and glass, to create different shapes and volumes. 

 By focusing on the purposes of the inhabitants and the communities, these buildings have a strong social sense. As a consequence, when applying this concept, other factors are beginning to be considered, such as healthiness and comfort.

According to the criteria of Le Corbusier, one of the main exponents of this trend, the principles of functional architecture are: 

 Columns: They are used as pillars to create open spaces that can be used by the community. Terrace: It allows to maintain the thermal insulation conditions and turn the interior patio into an area for recreation. 

Free plan: Thanks to the concrete, the bearing walls become unnecessary, freeing the space of structural limitations. 

Longitudinal windows: By releasing the exterior walls, the windows can cover the entire width of the building, expanding the relationship with the exterior.

How can we define Beauty in Architecture?

Many are clear about it, and without taking into account compositional elements, they usually justify their criteria by saying: "There is nothing written about tastes", making subjective perception a universal truth. Of the beauty in the Architecture if it has been written and a lot. From Ancient Greece, beauty was already defined as a compositional, harmonious and balanced form, where nothing could be added, subtracted or modified, without altering the composition.

Today, there are many technological advances that can be applied to construction, which translates into an architecture that is difficult to catalog, where beauty gives way to spectacularity, and rationality to feeling, the same that floods us when we observe something that moves us.

In a global society in which the maximum persuasion of the viewer is pursued through the Internet, Architecture also seeks to interact with the viewer through the image. The technological application in architecture and the constant appearance of innovative materials lead to a new way of transmitting beauty, where the building envelope becomes the maximum resource for moving the viewer through text, images and colors, a skin that gets great media value.