Designing the World With Us in it by Rinna

Rinna's entry into Varsity Tutor's December 2023 scholarship contest

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Designing the World With Us in it by Rinna - December 2023 Scholarship Essay

Architecture is about designing spaces to facilitate the intended purpose of a designated environment. There’s a reason why this purpose is so broad; it speaks to how influential the design of a space can be—from community-building to productivity. The focus of architecture is then human experience, as it is how people interact with a space that truly determines if it is viable for the future. To explain this thoroughly, let’s start outside.

The landscape is a large part of architecture as it provides the base for every structure. Look at a park, for example. A well-developed park utilizes the natural environment as the primary space for people to exist in. It does not impede on nature but instead works with it—creating an aesthetically-pleasing, open-air facility for people to use as the community sees fit. Landscape architecture, as it transforms the world around us, allows humans to not only manipulate our environment but work with it as well. This notion increasingly becomes important as we try to solve both housing crises and environmental crises here in the United States.

In terms of actual buildings, the basic rule is that its form follows its function. This can be seen when comparing the way offices look to malls. Office buildings are made to be rigid and serious to mimic the professional setting the company wants to achieve. In contrast, a mall is larger and is often softer-colored, typically with curves if possible, to present a casual space to a regular visitor. The aesthetics of a building then become the combination of what the community wished to see and an architect’s vision of the space itself, which often lends itself to the image of the people represented in the space. Architecture can therefore influence our perception of our world using design choices in a way to benefit society, either by creating a space for productivity or leisure.

Community-building is perhaps the most important benefit to studying architecture, in more than one aspect. While it is possible to make friends when studying architecture—ones that perhaps are specific to your major—architecture itself is about shaping space for people to live in. If there is the infrastructure for a community to thrive, then a community will be built in that space. For example, a school. Yes, a school is for education—that explains a high school’s rigid structure—but it is also a place for students to connect with each other. Usually, our first connections with people other than our family are through our schoolmates. This is because school provides a large space for people to connect in. Another example of this is the office space. The typical office space does have cubicles, but most cubicles have desk walls which are low and encourage communication with a neighbor. Museums also do this, as they provide open, sometimes even specialized spaces for people to celebrate their culture in. Architecture then becomes crux of the community—allowing for humans to thrive well in the social world, which has become increasingly important after the pandemic. Hence, architecture provides humans a way to shape the world around us while being conscious of our impact.

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