Is Architecture a Form of Art?

This question has always been raised whether architecture is considered art or not. Naturally, there is no doubt about the artistic nature of architecture. But what makes this question arise? As a final year architecture student, I have often asked myself the question, “Is architecture art?” . If so, why is it different from other arts? Or better to say, is it different at all or not?

One of the factors is usefulness. What I mean by usefulness is tangible usefulness.
When we look at a painting, we benefit from it. We can get an idea from the painting of Claude Monet. We can drown in it. We can look at its details and even imagine with ourselves how Claude Monet drew the brush on the canvas at that moment when this beautiful painting was created.
But exactly here we encounter the first difference between painting and architecture. The painter is free to do anything. A painter can draw details beautifully like Da Vinci and can act very freely like Jackson Pollock. Is the architect the same?

We have architects who work freely. But finally, their architecture should be compatible with the environment. Because people are supposed to live in it. walk in it and feel that place with your skin and bones. An architect can not be indifferent to society, culture and environment. Architecture should serve the audience. Architecture must respond to needs. This factor makes us say whether a building is good or not. We like a building because we have been able to live it and experience it. Aesthetic elements should serve the function. We should not sacrifice these factors because we want to use a particular form. The best kind of architecture is that which helps people, otherwise it is not architecture.

There has always been a discussion about function and form. Which one is really more important and as an architect (and maybe it can be extended and said as a designer) which should be given more attention?
We have buildings that function shapes its form and vice versa. But I have always said balance is important. We should not subtract from one and add to another.

Now, if I want to summarize all these things, it can be found in one word. ” Feeling ” . How much emotion is going on in the big cities of the world today? And how much do people communicate with each other and interact with each other? How much architecture has succeeded in strengthening this ?
I think the answers to the questions are clear. Emotions are few. In some places, it may be more, but it is still less. Architecture is becoming a commodity. And this is not what is expected from architecture.
Feeling is very important. We experience being in the moment when we are doing something we love from the bottom of our hearts. When we eat a delicious meal or when we are sitting with our friends in a cafe and talk to each other about how boring the day has been and they understand us or when we walk with bare feet on the grass, we feel that we belong to that time. These examples are different for everyone. That is what makes it beautiful. Every person is special. Everyone can have their own experience. Now, the question arises, what creates feeling in architecture? Well, this includes many things that I will write about in the future.

Let’s go back to our original question. Is architecture art? My answer is yes. Art is feeling. A feeling that we create in different ways. When human was unable to express his feelings verbally, art was born.

Goethe has a very beautiful definition of music.

“Music is liquid architecture and Architecture is frozen music”

In my opinion, among the arts, architecture is the closest to music. Both should have a rhythm and harmony. Harmony in architecture emerges when we make a positive impact on the environment. We are not going to follow it 100%. It is enough to go with it. Architecture can be as dynamic and energetic as Rachmaninov’s music and as calm as Schubert’s.

Let’s do architecture for architecture’s sake. Let’s put emotion back into architecture because we need it. We are present at the location every moment. The place is not just a floor, four walls and a ceiling. The building is our place. Earth is our place. The world is our place.