Is Architecture a Combination of Art & Maths?
One of the most popular questions that arise in the process of applying to study Architecture is, how previous school subjects, such as art and mathematics, play a role in easing the process later on.
Like myself, I specifically altered my GCSE and A-level subject choices in the direction of Architecture, knowing that it was what I wanted to study at university. After graduating from our undergraduate course, we wanted to reflect on our education and see how much previous academic decisions affected the outcome. In other words, was it essential to have studied Art & Maths to study Architecture at university.
Personal Context
To give some back story, I studied Art & Design at GCSE alongside the compulsory Mathematics classes set by the government. I proceeded to continue both subjects, although I did make a slight change from Art & Design to Fine Art later on for my A-levels. You may ask why and the simple answer to this question is that most universities, that offer an Architecture undergraduate course, specified that students who were undertaking an Art A-level and/or Mathematics and even in some cases Physics is preferred. Luckily, I always enjoyed both Art and Maths as a subject so it aligned well with the decision and so I proceeded with the two subjects along with Sociology at A-level.
Reflecting on my Undergraduate
2 years later, I get into university to study BA in Architecture. 3 years later I completed my undergraduate. Great… but I never used what I had learnt exclusively from A-level Maths. This was a bummer because, for me, A-level Maths was difficult and by the end of the 2 years I despised the subject to the brim and never wanted to go back all for what? To not have used differentiation, integration, or parametric equations that I spent hours trying to crack the code? I thought to myself, “I could have done well with my GCSE Maths skills alone without the added stress of A-levels.”
Logically speaking, it was never a must. Any mathematical knowledge necessary would be taught during the degree. The secondary skills that came along did help; problem-solving, iteration, and organising. Although, it can be argued that these skills are not exclusively built up by those who studied Mathematics. I was enhancing the same skills in my Sociology classes too through a different context. So nowadays when I look back, I don’t think I would have taken Mathematics for A-levels. At least not for the sole reason of being a ‘preferred candidate’ because I truly believe I could have compensated elsewhere. This could be my portfolio, extracurricular activities or simply studying a better subject which was more well-suited for me.
Looking on the other side of the spectrum, the Arts made more sense. In many cases, you are challenged to translate visual information in different formats to communicate information for someone else to understand. Architectural drawings felt similar to my experience studying Fine Art due to the shared thinking process: Research, inspiration, response to a brief, development/iteration, and outcome. The difference was that the briefs varied more from each other which made a lot of sense considering the different umbrella terms. There were more moments where I was using skills from my past in Arts compared to Maths.
So, where does this bring my thoughts on today’s question?
Is Architecture Really a Combination of Art & Maths?
At an undergraduate level, there is a more literal connection between Architecture & the Arts, however it is too early for us to make a judgement on the relevancy of Maths considering we still have a MArch to do as well as a RIBA Part 3 course.
If I were to be ending my journey now, without moving forward to pursue a MArch and later on my RIBA Part 3 to become a qualified Architect, then the undergraduate alone does make me question, “Why Maths is significantly preferred to the point that it is mentioned in university entry requirements?”. This isn’t me necessarily saying, “do not study Maths at A-level”, but more so “do research on how Maths plays a role in different Architecture courses because not all of them are the same”. It might even be a question worth asking at university interviews and getting the perspective of a course advisor early on.
It’s also important to mention that some forms of Architecture are further developed and investigated with the aid of Maths. Take parametric architecture as an example. To not state the obvious, the term has the word ‘parametric’ within it so you know you’ll be working with numbers. To briefly introduce, Parametric Architecture embodies the use of an algorithmic process to generate patterns and break out of the bubble of typical forms and shapes. It has been recognised as an efficient and new method of designing but when you break it apart you realise how much of it is driven by equations. So, in this conversation, having a good relationship with numbers will definitely be helpful.
Overall, it’s hard to give a yes or no answer because the term ‘Architecture’ contains moments in which one subject will be more dominant over the other depending on the circumstance. If I had to give an answer based primarily on my undergraduate course, my answer would be no. Architecture is its own subject that draws from many other topics but generates a new and separate discussion dissimilar to what you have probably studied before.
That brings us to the end of this week’s blog post discussing a relevant topic among people who might be in the process of deciding whether or not they’ll like to study Architecture in the future.
We would like to stress that this is one among many opinions drawn from personal experience. Make sure to also read accounts from other graduates, staff members and current students as everyone’s experience will differ from each other. Broadening your understanding of all the possibilities will allow you to be more equipped to tackle the question.
See you all next where we will be covering a sustainability-heavy topic that you may be unfamiliar with that might give you some extra wow points in your technical studies ;D
