Structures of Belief: Pragmatism and the Architectures of Self and Idea

Abstract

A model is developed that arrays architecture types according to a building’s focus on self (utility toward work and life function) and idea (intellectual concept). An argument is made that between a focus on self or on idea, some architecture takes the form of a pose, a pretense that it is something other than its purpose would suggest, but without attempting to impose an idea. This creates a dynamic along two axes, physical/mental and irony/sincerity. The resulting arc presents a structural model by which architecture’s belief profile can be mapped.