AESTETA: Manifesto (Platonic and Aristotelean inspired)

"All good poets compose their beautiful poems not by art, but because they are inspired or possessed...there is no invention in him unless he has been inspired and is out of his senses and the mind is no longer with him...these beautiful poems are not human, or the work of man, but divine and the work of god."

- Plato, Ion and Phaedrus

Architecture is the output of our work and the input of our imaginations.


On one paragraph that I wrote on my Manifesto was:


"Architecture for me is all about what we see in our respected surroundings. From the measurements of each object, from the design concepts, from the philosophy, from the life experiences, from acoustics and music and how we interpret every detail on our imagination and creativity to our output work and how we think critically on what we see."

- Coronado, Philippe Jiro L.

The Philosophy of Aristotle, mainly the Theory of Causation, supported that paragraph of mine because, the Theory of Causation was all about the input and the output of a certain material. In relation to Architecture, a building must be well designed inside and out. You must know what is the purpose of that certain structure and what does it express. Does it express emotions of the designer? Does it symbolize a certain country? and such. Because as architects, you must know the means and purpose of your building.

In Platonic term, Plato discussed the Theory of Forms. Which means anything that imitate the real forms (according to Plato are ideas), are fake, imperfect. He also stated that there is only one pure form, and it only exists in our mind. Plato was more of an Idealist which means that for him, ideas are more real than the objects that manifest them. He gives more credit to the thought behind a certain object, and not the object itself.

 Just like what I have remembered in my notes: Beauty is an essence not appearance. I find that phrase very catchy and strong at the same time, because, a lot of people might take it the wrong way, but what they don't realize, is that, an object is beautiful because of its substance that gives meaning to an object. In an easier way, the essence or the purpose of the object is what make the object beautiful.

(*Plato and Aristotle, for me was really the opposite of one another. That is why, I am having a little contradicting argument with myself here)

In Aristotlean term, he denied Plato's Theory of Forms, wherein he said that Forms exists in the real world. He said that, a substance is in the form itself. May it be its purpose, its shape, its esthetics. Aristotle defined forms as the manifestos of a certain object. (I am trying hard not to mess up and not to tangle words. Haha.). In much more easier term, Aristotle, defined forms as the inside soul of an object. Just like the example, last week, a chair becomes a chair, because of its means and purpose, because of the substance that is in the form itself.

He described that you will find beauty after tragedy. That is why the movie Pleasantville was a good appetizer for us to start the discussion, because how will you find beauty if everything is happy, if everything is perfect. It would be such a boring world if you do have a world like that. Someone in that world really has to make a mistake, for them to find beauty in themselves (colors).

In relation to Architecture, I just want to share again a part on my Adesprn Manifesto during the 1st term:


"It requires critical thinking. We must look beyond and ordinary object, to make it an extra ordinary object. We need to exceed our own expectation. We need to think outside of the box. We must look for possibilities, and when we say possibilities, it’s made up of imaginations, and imaginations are limitless. It’s more than what we see outside, but it’s more on what we see inside."

-Coronado, Philippe Jiro L.

As Architects, we must design with inspiration, we must design not only to make a structure beautiful outside, but also the inside.
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People often over look a certain beauty of a structure, where in the people miss the best part of it. The concept of each building is what makes the building meaningful and beautiful. The concept is the most basic foundation of the structure, it’s the main character, then the materials and the design are just the supporting characters.

Here is an example of Cesar Pelli's masterpiece: The Petronas Tower.

The tower looks so good, elegant and is really one of my favorite. People may find this tower universally beautiful, but what people miss in this building is mainly, maybe the most important part of it.

Architect Cesar Pelli designed this building through a Rub el Hizb, which today is oftenly called as the Star of David. Cesar Pelli, used that Rub el Hizb, to symbolize Malaysia's Muslim religion.

Having that kind of concept through a building just makes that building even more meaningful. (The design was the icing, and the concept was the cherry on top)



We as Architects, should be driven or to be possessed by something to create/ or to have an inspiration to have a one of a kind building (I guess, One of a Kind is just the perfect word, because inspiration comes from our mind and soul. According to Plato, what we have in our mind is the real deal, the real thing, the legitimate thing, therefore, our ideas can't be copied by any other of our kind.)

For me, I personally think that the concept is in the output itself. In the first place, there would not be an output without a concept. But they only differ on one thing: and that is limitations. Concepts are synthesis of ideas supported by a human philosophy which makes it eternal and universal. In today's world, we see extremist architects who exceed their own expectations to perfections. We see extremist architects who make the imagination, a mere reality. Just like what Plato implied, forms (ideas) manifests its physical object.

At the same time, the concept is much more important than the output because, the concept is the one who drives and inspires you to exceed your limits to have a quality output. With having a mediocre concept, you will also have a mediocre output. In simple analogy, the concept can be the engine, and the output is the driver. The engine is the driving force, who gives support and energy to the driver (output). The driver could lead us to different places with a good engine.

A landscape drawing would look like much real with shadows on it.



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"That architectural tracings are apparitions, outlines, figments
They are not diagrams but ghosts"

-John Hejduk

This phrase from Hejduk, was similar to Plato's Theory of Forms. It was stated that the purest form of things only existed in our mind. They are only imitations or possibly illusions.

Architect John Hejduk was also a symbolic architect.


'The architect starts with the abstract world, and 
due to the nature of his work, works toward the real world."

-John Hejduk, The Mask of Medusa

I understood this quote as, an Architect should start thinking beyond what is possible, he/she must defy his/her own standards. Once he's/she's finished with all the concepts, all he/she has to do is to apply that concept to the real world. No matter how impossible our concepts are, we must still pursue and continue with that because that we must defy the impossible. Just like what Frank Gehry did, no one thought that the Walt Disney Concert Hall would be looked at as a beautiful structure. I guess, when you go on to the extreme, it gives more beauty to a certain structure.



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In conclusion, Architecture is not all about creating buildings. Constructing is already given as our forte, but we must excel more on the philosophical side, which gives life to the structure. We as architects, must compromise to each of our clients, we must adopt their philosophy, so we would be driven to create a unique design only for them. For us to be good architects, we must take advantage of Plato and Aristotle's philosophy. Ideas are limitless, universal, never-ending, infinite. It's impossible for us to have a mediocre output, because each and every one of us has an inner "form", and that form consists of our emotions, experiences, sufferings, happiness. We should always remember that our inner selves are always represented by our designs and constructions.

As individuals, we have our own self realizations, we have our own inspirations, we have our own set of goals. We must learn how to mash up our inner selves to our philosophy for us to have boosts inside us, we must let our creative philosophical side, to have a bulletproof concept that would make our output, even better that what we expected.