Beauty, as a term, has mystified thinkers, philosophers and the common man since time immemorial. Many have attempted at defining this term, some have linked it to the physical appeal of a woman, while others have attempted to give it a deeper sense. Beauty, isn’t about a person, an object, or about anything specific at all. Instead, beauty is that which makes you smile.
The reason we keep coming back to the idea, is because it is soothing to our senses. Beauty brings back the proportions to the chaos, it helps us make sense of that which doesn’t, it brings order to the haphazard.
Have you ever stood amidst a bustling market to look at the laughter on the face of a child? Wondered why you felt that instinct to stand and watch? Did you notice the smile that crept on your face? That’s what beauty can do to a person.
The art movements across the centuries have gone through many styles, from the classical to the modern, from baroque to bauhaus, there has been a transition in the styles every some decades. This has transformed the perceptions of excellence time and again.
Today, our world is changing, and change it must, if it has to survive in this day and age. We are undergoing major shifts in the way we use the materials to construct our structures, the designs that are approved have to pass through several layers of scrutiny for sustainability in relation to the environment, the people, the purpose and the structure. The plan looks perfect on the paper, but in reality, when you walk down the road of skyscrapers, you are greeted with huge glass facades and aluminum exteriors, completely unsustainable. Now compare this stark, cold structure to a building housed amidst rows of trees, built in stone or brick, complete with wooden fixtures, what would make you smile? It wouldn’t be a long shot to guess the latter.
A pursuit of beauty in changing times, reminds me of the life of Howard Roark, the famous protagonist of Ayn Rand’s novel, The Fountainhead (ISBN 0-451-19115-3). In his entire life, he had been dedicated to erecting structures that had an integrity of their own. Structures which were created by the very land that they were built on. Structures which were beautiful because they could not be anything but that. In the book, his companion, a character called Dominique, writes about his buildings, which she publicly denounces but privately reveres, she says, “The Enright House is bright and bold. So is a feather boa. It will attract attention – but only to the immense audacity of Mr. Roark’s conceit. When this building is erected, it will be a wound on the face of our city. A wound too, is colorful.” Her choice of the word colorful is an expression of its beauty. His buildings are beautiful structures, because they follow the conventions of a good building, they maintain an economy of space, they use the natural elements of wind and light to their maximum advantage thus becoming highly economical and sustainable in the long run, they are built with a purpose, each wall, each stair, has a meaning, and it is this thought that gives the structure its unparalleled beauty.
So, we move along in our quest, changing with the times, bearing in mind certain principles, in search of that elusive term, beauty.
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