[ARCHITECT]onic

By Cray Shellenbarger

I think that some of us use words that we don’t fully understand because we heard it from a source that we respect or simply in earnest. The term architectonic is often heard during many of our undergraduate presentations. As architecture students sometimes we are naïve of other discipline’s definitions.

Architectonics is defined, architecturally, as the science of architecture. However, there are other definitions we should be aware of. Two of which are in regard to structure in the case of a piece of art and the other is the science of the systemization of knowledge.

The architectural definition and the more artistic one are closely related. The third definition is the one I am most concerned with. A science of systemizing knowledge is very important to many of us during our thesis work. We need to understand different systems and different times in regards to architecture. As we analyze architecture we must begin to create our own methods of architectonics while understanding cultures of the past and present.

If we think of this example when choosing our words during this presentation it will deepen our understanding of the subject. This understanding will both enrich our projects but our research. We must attempt to understand how people think or thought about subjects they were working in. If we simply attempt to interpret a piece of writing from another period or culture, we are risking missing the point completely. If this takes place, we have wasted our time.