A Synthesis of the Origins of Architecture

The elusive definition of Architecture is one that concerns any academic or practitioner within the realm of architectural design and construction. This field is riddled with nuance and contradiction. These qualities are not the deficit of architecture. In fact, the hypocrisy of this highly subjective industry is the very power that it draws from which makes it such a lofty area of knowledge to pursue. Within the cracks of architectural discourse lie the true nature of what Architecture is. Over the years, my experiences in moving through architecture school have never really been typical. Alongside the work of the studios and courses of my academic career, I have spent much time, effort, and thought cataloguing my findings and supplementing various course works with personal research. This ranges across analysis of the functional or legislative qualities of architecture to the aesthetic and spatial force that art can wield. I have been fascinated by the contrast that exists across all of these topics within architecture. These short and long form essays hope to organize and display my ideas so that others might find acorns of architectural knowledge from which to spearhead their own trajectories in architectural thought. I have spent much time editing, writing, and packaging a matrix of collected ideas, observed typologies, and engagements with the fleeting drivers of architectural discourse. The main focus is relating the ways that architecture is fluid and changing and comparing it to my personal journey. This publicly accessible blog dives in and out of many topics. These works are a chaotic representation of the ideas that consume me whenever I experience architecture in a meaningful way. More specifically, I have spent much time reflecting on the metaphysical ways in which my experiences have been impacted by architecture, the arts, politics, and society in a general way.

Pen, Ink, Watercolor on evolutions of an architectural typology by Sean McGadden

Through travel, experience on job sites, interactions with the good people who also create and build, I have tried to synthesize and organize an index of ideas. I have built this collection with heavy references to personal anecdotes and I have coupled them with deep dives into an array of issues. All of this content I have found to be integral to a full and broad knowledge of architecture.

By accepting the chaotic quality of architectural research and not rejecting the contradiction and nuance that exists through these experiences and research endeavors I have begun to synthesize these areas of interest in a format that is digestible to both a common reader and a specialist on architecture. I hope the formatting, displaying and launching a broad body of work and knowledge in a way that eases both access and readability will bring joy and excitement toward the practice and research of architecture.

Concept sketch of an architecture, pencil and pen, by Sean McGadden