"architecture", the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. As with some other arts, the practice of architecture embraces both aesthetic and utilitarian ends that may be distinguished but not separated, and the relative weight given to each can vary widely from work to work. Thus, at one end of the scale are purely functional structures (that may nonetheless possess certain aesthetic qualities, intended or not), while at the other are purely decorative ones with no genuine practical function at all.

All but the simplest cultures have evolved characteristic forms of architecture, and the more complex societies command a great variety of styles, techniques, and purposes that shape their buildings.

 

Related Internet Links:

I Want to be an Architect

Scaffold: WWW Architectural Project

Voice of the Shuttle: Architecture Page

Period and Style for Designers

Historic Federal Buildings

AIA Online: The American Institute of Architects

Spaces and Places

International Architecture and Design Home Page

Architectural digital imaging project

SPIRO: Architecture Slide Library

Architecture and Building

Architecture Web Resources

Architronic: The Electronic Journal of Architecture

Architecture

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