Beauty, Brutalism, and Belief: a Selection of Architural Themes

    The vast diversity in architecture across even just a cityscape has always been an interest of mine. The designs incorporated into a region's buildings often diffuse the identities and beliefs of the people who create them. Even the most simple design choice can reflect the feelings of an artist or serve as a snapshot of the emotions and priorities of a people for future generations to analyze and process. The first image shown below is taken from Edinburgh Castle, located in Scotland. Here, we can easily draw the conclusion that our designer has a belief in a deity, and has immortalized the stance of the members of this castle at the time of creation. The colors all serve to draw the eye and display the status of the subjects of this glass panel. In the second image, color takes on a different purpose. Rather than to signify status, we can take the colors of Carnaby to reflect a much different perspective. The arresting pink of the corner building serves as a beacon to creative individuals, letting anyone who sees know that artistic freedom and individualism is very much accepted in this area. In our final image, a brutalist rooftop displays a different take on design. Directly in opposition to our Carnaby pink corner building, we can imagine the designer of this skyline prioritized the function of buildings rather than the emotion that can be poured into design.