What is Culture?

“The ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society.”

1. Religion. Beliefs of society, some traditions.
2. Art. Architecture, style.
3. Politics. Government and laws of a culture (rules and leadership)
4. Language. The communication system of a culture (speech, writing, symbols)
5. Economy
6. Customs
7. Society
8. Geography

What is Architecture?

Architecture is the art and science of designing buildings and other physical structures. A wider definition often includes the design of the total built environment from the macro level of town planning, urban design, and landscape architecture to the micro-level of construction details and, sometimes, furniture.

Architecture Space

It is a three-dimensional space inside any building or shelter which affects human habitation.

“The architect works with form and mass just ass the sculptor does, and like the painter, he works with color. But alone of the three, his is a functional art. It solves practical problems. It creates tools or implements for human beings and utility plays a decisive role in judging it.”

From the book Experiencing Architecture by Steen Eiler Rasmuss

To produce an architecture language these are the architectural elements that come together in space making.

Just like in the English language five vowels make a single word and then words make sentences, then paragraphs to a book.

These architecture elements are as follow

• Wall
• Window
• Door
• Stairs
• Column
• Floor
• Roof

Architecture as a symbol of the culture?

The main role of culture is to present mental ideas by introducing concrete forms. Architecture plays a key role in the process of this transformation.

Cultural factors affecting the formation of architectural spaces

1. Through the creation of behavioral laws and rules that lead to functional organizing and spatial hierarchy.
2. Through the creation of memories, beliefs, and physical symptoms in the form of symbols, archetypes, and metaphors that lead to creating meaning in the architectural space.

Ancient Egyptian Pyramids

• The Great Pyramid of Giza points very precisely to the north.
• The pyramids of Egypt are all built to the west of the Nile River. This is because the western side was associated with the land of the dead.
• The base of a pyramid was always a perfect square.
• They were built mostly of limestone.
• There were traps and curses put on the tombs and the pyramids to try and keep robbers out.

Feng Shui Influenced Hong Kong's Skyline

Feng shui (“wind” and “water”) is the ancient Chinese practice of aligning buildings and objects so that they attract good luck and ward off misfortune. In Hong Kong, feng shui experts play a major role in the city’s architectural development.

Cathedrals

A cathedral is a church that contains the cathedra (Latin for "seat") of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Catholic,

A case study for the Dawoodi Bohra Community:

Connected Introversion

Spatial Flexibility

Parsali - Multi-purpose Space

Agashi - Urban Sanctuary

Otla: Private meets Public

Breakdown of a typical Bohra household in Sidhpur