System Building and Aesthetic Preference

Master's Thesis from the year 2007 in the subject Art - Architecture / History of Construction, Robert Gordon University Aberdeen, course: MSc. in Advanced Architectural Studies., language: English, abstract: This dissertation is concerned with the aesthetics of architecture using system building in housing in the UK. It has been produced in response to a growing level of interest in the system building method and in the aesthetic value of housing schemes constructed using the system building method. The aim here is to consider research on the system building methods within a house building context and test different types or categories of housing schemes based on aesthetic preference. This study explores issues of perception and level of aesthetic value. In general, aesthetics is the study of the psychological responses to beauty and artistic experiences. Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy which deals with the nature of art and of artistic judgment. Some of the central questions of aesthetics focus on the beautiful: under what circumstances it may be said to exist, what criteria are to be used to judge the beautiful, and whether or not these criteria apply equally to literature and music. There are two traditional views concerning what constitutes aesthetic values. The first finds beauty to be objective, that is, inherent in the entity itself. The second position holds that beauty is subjective, in that it depends on the attitude of the observer. Immanuel Kant argued that judgments of taste, as he called aesthetic judgments, rest on feelings, which, though subjective, have universal validity. The instrumental theory of value, an extension of subjectivism, holds that the value of art consists in its capacity to produce an aesthetic experience (Kristen L. Zacharias). System building leads to a faster completion period, well organized site, and better quality workmanship and most importantly offers major cost benefits for clients, architects and builders (Basri, 2006). This also means that the construction method is simplified and standardised and ensures good communication between the parties involved (Fergusson, 1981). For the purpose of this study the concept of system building is to be understood in its widest possible context.