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Whether we're looking at homes or buildings in Ireland, France, England or the U.S., anywhere, undoubtedly some seem to stand out. We may even think of some of these as examples of "good" or "great" architecture. Interestingly enough, architects and people, often disagree on the evaluative criteria of design excellence. We all assess architectural design "excellence" differently.
When we qualify or judge "architecture", we usually resort to professional criteria dictated by aesthetics or science, which is fine for us architects but not necessarily so for the general public. A non architect may follow his instinct or immediate subjective reaction, when viewing a building that looks different from the rest. This is more so in contexts where mediocrity seems to prevail; like the fly on a glass of milk... By the way, mediocrity seems to prevail, although design excellence isn't necessarily more expensive.
We architects have been trained in theories or directives, plenty of them to be exact, instructing us how to design and produce "architecture". Also, we've been told to forget words such as "like", that carry subjectivity. For "greatness" is supposed to be "objective" (Tell that to most people who may disagree with some architectural "masterpieces"; critics may approve while the people dislike).
What is "Great" Architecture? How Can we Judge?
However, the general public chooses an architect or even a chair, based solely on that very forbidden word, "like". Simply because we do like an architect's design approach, we do like immensely that particular chair, etc. We humans have subjective qualities or subjective evaluative criteria, whereas education or A.I. doesn't. Last but not least, we humans have emotions.
Essentially, architects decide based on objective criteria, while folks decide based on emotion or subjective criteria, so obviously there's a chasm.
Also, when we remember a "cool" home or building we witnessed a few years ago, isn't that an indication of architectural design excellence? Food for thought...
So whether you're Irish, English, French or Belgian, it's indeed acceptable to "like" something that excites you, moves you, soothes you, or inspires you, whether it's a home or a design accessory!
We'll send you our complimentary "Design and Renovation Guide" upon request: dr.vidalis@gmail.com
https://vidalis-architects.com
VIDALIS
ARCHITECTS: Michael A. Vidalis, Ph.D. & associates
ARCHITECTS + INTERIOR DESIGNERS
Realizing the attainable avant-garde.
PRODUCING MEMORABLE ARCHITECTURE © 2025
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What
is "Great" Architecture? How can we Judge? What is considered "great"
architecture is ultimately for the public or the client to judge (Sorry
dear colleagues...).
