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No. 8The aesthetics

Published December 23, 2022

VAD08 La Estética

Issue description

Aesthetics, as a reflection on the image, cannot be understood as an immutable discipline. The perception of aesthetic values, whether they are related to beauty or ugliness, harmony or imbalance, have historically been determined by social, scientific or philosophical conditions.

Half a century later, it is worth questioning many vicissitudes of that moment, among others, if this debate is still valid. How important are aesthetic criteria in 21st century architecture? Has the debate between form and function been overcome? How does the change in values ​​of society influence what is demanded of an architectural work?

This issue presents works that reflect on the concept of aesthetics not only from conceptual positions –where the debate has traditionally been located–, but also from the analysis of concrete, historical or contemporary examples, which allow us to delimit the relevance of the sensory in the architecture; texts that help to understand if the traditional dichotomy between form and function has been overcome and, even more, if this discussion is still relevant today.