Values and measures in Architecture

Since human beings advanced from making shelters to a more sophisticated building process, the value of the final product has been measured using a combination of emotional, economic, and ecologic values. Human nature quite often distorts these measures, mostly as a result of personal emotions, interests, or knowledge (or lack of knowledge, most of the time).

As architects, we all believe, that we need to prioritize these values, and we also need to set up as many measures as we can, even if some of the targeted values are still not in use in the everyday life, but can be predicted for the future. These values also change over time - that's, why architecture is a true physical representation of the period`s political, economic and social values.

Until the 18th century, architecture went through relatively slow transformations; sometimes it took several hundreds of years to change style and technologies. Following the industrial revolution some of these changes did happen dramatically quickly. One of the most spectacular change was the beginning of modernism. Dramatic circumstances caused dramatic change. The different national movements in arts, the shock of WW1, and the hunger to create universal artistic values, helped modernism to surface, after a very intense, but very short period of transformation.

In 2008-2009 some parts of the world faced a sudden, shocking recession. After carousing decades of post-modern architecture, the world had to realize, that the way the economy operates, is not sustainable at all. The GFC pointed to the shocking truth: The way we think, the way we build, the way we live have changed forever. Along with bankers and politicians, architects have to accept a level of responsibility. They have to ensure, that the highly distorted value-system returns to a sustainable configuration. Some architect/journalists were even more radical – calling non-sustainable design a form of crime. It sounds harsh, but please, think about that. Imagine a public building with a clever, abstract, moderate facade, or internal cladding, or circulation system, or with better M&E system, natural ventilation etc. Then please imagine the cost saving. Could the money saved be spent on research, scholarships or support? Yes, definitely.

Of course, architecture doesn't have to be soulless - but the tools have to be chosen and used carefully. The symbols need to be clean, straight forward, and consistent. By the 21st century the importance of the main measure for any building, the user experience, has not changed. But it has become much more sophisticated, and layered.

Through the development of democracy the weight of the opinions also became democratic. Democracy provides feedback from an increasing number of users. From being an asset of the privileged, architecture became an asset of society. This fact increases the level of responsibility, requiring architects to prioritize values more carefully.