RIA GARDEN
2025
Luxury Condominium
Ria Formosa Natural Park
Faro - Algarve - Portugal
12 Apartments
1. Emotional Resonance:
By far the most defining feature of a great building is that it’s able to inspire a lot of emotions in a person. Think of it this way; almost all tourists remember how they felt when they visited the Roman Colosseum for the first time.
Now compare that to the countless steel buildings in the USA. What’s the difference? Why is it that one can inspire us and the other has no emotional effect whatsoever? The answer is emotional resonance.
Now compare that to the countless steel buildings in the USA. What’s the difference? Why is it that one can inspire us and the other has no emotional effect whatsoever? The answer is emotional resonance.
Simply put, a good building is one that is able to invoke emotion and stir the senses. Granted not every building can be the Pantheon or the Colosseum, but that doesn’t mean that architects shouldn’t try!
2. Functionality:
This one’s a no-brainer; above all else, a great design always serves its purpose. Take the Sydney Opera House for example. While most people think that its fancy design is just to create hype and deviate from the city’s skyline, there’s a secret to its unorthodox design; it enhances the acoustics of the room and makes live performances much more enjoyable.
In other words, the Sydney Opera House remains as popular today as it was when it was first constructed because it serves its purpose. Therefore, if you’re looking to enhance the longevity of your design, by far the simplest way of doing so is by focusing on its functionality.
That being said, countless architects have been guilty of compromising the functionality of a design in favor of enhanced visual aesthetics. It goes without saying that this is a harmful practice and severely impacts the quality and the longevity of a building.
So, if you’re looking to design a building that stands the test of time and is as useful twenty years down the line as it’s now, you need to emphasize on functionality.
3. Endurance:
It’s an open secret that buildings are a long, one-time investment. In other words, no one is willing to spend millions of dollars every year just to reinforce a design or on its maintenance. Therefore, when designing an iconic piece of architecture, you should use materials that enhance its endurance.
Think of the most iconic buildings in the world, what do most of them have in common? They were made ages ago. Don’t believe us? The Empire State Building was made in 1930 and the Eiffel Tower was erected in 1887, while classics like the Pantheon and the Roman Colosseum were made in 125 AD and 72 AD respectively!
Therefore, endurance is also a very important quality that most iconic buildings have in common. So, if you’re in the process of designing something new, we strongly advise you to use the best materials so as to ensure that your design stands the test of time.
4. Visual Aesthetics:
While beauty is completely subjective and everyone is entitled to their opinion, there’s no denying the fact that all architectural masterpieces are beautiful in their own way. It’s a scientifically proven fact that we like to look at things of beauty and buildings are obviously no exception to this general rule.
This is one common aspect that can be found in every single iconic building no matter the period of time they were constructed in. From the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (built in 1561) to Dubai’s Burj Khalifa (built in 2004) and everything in between, all these iconic buildings are objectively beautiful.
So, spend times perfecting the overall design and try to make it as appealing as it can be. A simple way of doing so is making your building as symmetrical as it can be (e.g. the Burj Khalifa and the Eiffel Tower), but it’s worth mentioning that asymmetrical designs are just as popular, if not more (e.g. the Seattle Central Library and the City Hall in London).
