The rise of aesthetics in the theory and practice of architecture: A Study in the origin of the relationship of architecture with aesthetics

Aesthetics emerged in the views of eighteenth-century Western philosophers as a branch of philosophy that judges the beautiful and focuses on the arts. From that time, these philosophers also paid attention to architecture. However, the term entered architectural theory about a century later. Theorists have mentioned the two main factors that have given rise to the emergence of architectural aesthetics in this period: the achievement in "visual arts" and the dominance of "rational-logical" thinking on the theory and practice of architecture. An issue that has received less attention in this research is the different roles of these two factors in the emergence of architectural aesthetics. The question of the research is "What role have each of these factors played in the emergence of architectural aesthetics?" The methodology of the research is that first, we expressed the origin and basic concepts of aesthetics in the eyes of the founders. Then, we express the conflict between Aestheticians' approach and the views of architects and architectural theorists about beauty. Afterward, we show how the reaction to the rational-logical method created a desire among architects and theorists to relate to aesthetics. Finally, we argued about how the mediation of the visual arts paved the way for the relationship between architecture and aesthetics.
The result shows that under the influence of rational-logical thinking, architects and theorists tried to explain the place of architecture as a science and not a kind of art. The purpose of architecture, to create a place for the perfect way of living with all complicated aspects, was reduced to fulfilling the physical functions and aspects of architecture that can be expressed in the program and structure. In response to the reductionist approach, a desire to go beyond emerged among architects and theorists. They thought that if the task of architecture is anything more than serving the practical needs of everyday life, we could find the answer to the relationship between art and architecture. However, due to differences in architects' view of beauty and Aestheticians' view about the relationship between arts and beauty, the aesthetics of architecture was not made by referring to philosophical topics. Aesthetics of architecture requires a shift in judging beauty from the role of practical and moral functions to the mere form. This paradigm shift was mediated by the visual arts which do not belong to the practical and moral considerations. As a result, we approve of the idea that the dominance of "rational-logical" thinking and the "visual arts", played different roles in the rise of aesthetics of architecture. The reaction to the first one created a desire for architects to relate to aesthetics. The second provided the means to fulfill this desire.