Frances to Luis and others... The label "architecture" itself has been somewhat of a thorn for me in regard to probing and framing a theory of architecture. The following preamble is my attempt to untangle any snarl of twine that might emerge. These definitions are often held as being necessarily narrow in that they justly limit architecture to spheres that are anthropocentric and epistemic; and sometimes even artistic, which is more debatable. Any comments and corrections are welcome.
(1) The lexical morpheme "ture" in the English language is a full semiotic sign, but often acts only as a linguistic root fix. As a full sign or term a "ture" generally refers to an actual concrete kind of physical object. As a preparatory fix for added prefixes and suffixes the root gives rise to a varied lexicon and vocabulary of terms, such as "picture" and "sculpture" and "tecture" and so on. The word "architecture" in particular is a general noun, and refers to a typical class of constructed objects. The term is usually not used in a singular token sense, so that while we do speak of a graphic picture or a plastic sculpture we do not speak of a tectonic architecture, although we probably should in the interest of semantic continuity. (2) Architecture as a study of theorice or a field of practice is usually deemed the art of designing constructed objects in a certain style to be done with a plan and by way of a skilled craft. The specific practice can entail a project or plan, and a process of design, and a product. The practice usually includes graphic pictures as drafts, and plastic sculptures as models, and tectonic tectures as products. The final stage of the practice can variously be settled and completed and finished. The field of architecture in practice is furthermore deemed to be a professional activity and a learned institute for industry and commerce, but there is no equivalent field of picture or field of sculpture. The field is supported mainly by the science of archeology for the study of histories, and the science of ecology for the study of environments, and the science of arcology for the study of habitats.
