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8 Amazing Facts You Didn’t Know About Architecture
post updated 10 March 2024
Architecture is not just about building houses or mesmerizing structures. There is a lot more to architecture than meets the eye. Many people do not even know that architecture began as a sport.
If you are pursuing your career as an architect, you will find that architecture has a lot of interesting facts and a fascinating history. Even if you are not an architect, you will still find some of this information interesting. We are pretty sure that in this article, there will be at least one new piece of information you didn’t know about.
2 August 2022
Crazy Facts about Architecture
Architecture is not about shapes and figures. It definitely did not start like that. To know more, here is a list of some of the unique information you will find about architecture:
1. Lego is Not Just a Child’s Toy
Nowadays, most people think of legos as just little children’s toys. You can put together small little blocks to make unique structures.
But lego is not just some kid’s leisurely plaything. In fact, in the early days, Lego was a major tool for architects to create models of the house they were building. Such was the case with Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, son of the LEGO founder, as he tried to make a model of the house he was building with lego bricks.
Similarly, astronauts in the International Space Station used lego bricks to build model space stations to see how they would react to microgravity.
2. The Tallest Building
As technology has improved, so has the potential of architecture. It seems that all the countries are in a race to build the tallest standing structure in the world. According to the tallest skyscraper overview, the title of the tallest building in the world is held by Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
But what is it like from the tallest building in the world? The view will send chills down your spine. Everything will appear small, and you can hardly see humans at the bottom. Not just Burj Khalifa, the top view from any tall building is something that will remain in your mind forever.
3. Not Just about Building Houses and Structures
Some of you might be wondering why we mentioned space stations while talking about architecture. Well, that is the thing about architecture. They do not only work with building houses or supermalls. They also work on building furniture, cars, planes, and, yes, space stations.
Think of a rocket ship. You may think engineers built this, which is true to some extent. But it was the architects who designed the whole thing so that the engineers could build them. The future for architecture looks bright, and along with the upcoming industrial revolution, we can expect some amazing things.
4. An Olympic Sport
You heard that right! This subject studied all around the world, works with building complex structures. It was once an Olympic sport with gold, silver, and bronze medals for winners.
This might sound confusing as there are no architecture sports in the Olympic tournament of this day and age. But in the early ages of the Olympics, medals were given for music, painting, sculpture, literature, and architecture. However, it was decided that the architecture must only be related to sports, not anything else.
5. Structure Older than an Entire Religion
The birth of Jesus Christ or A.D marks the birth of the religion “Christianity.” So, we can be assured that Christianity is about 2022 years old as of now.
But there is one structure that took longer to construct than the entire current lifespan of Christianity plus a few more hundred years.
The Great Wall of China, A massive wall constructed to protect China against the invasion of the Huns, started its construction as early as 700 B.C and finished its construction at around 1878 A.D. It took roughly 2,600 years to complete the longest man-made structure, which is longer than the largest religion in the world.
Other amazing architectural destinations include the St.Peter’s Basilica of Rome, the Taj Mahal of India, and casino de Monte-Carlo of Monaco.
6. Ouija Board Mystery
Something as creepy as the Ouija board is also related to architecture. This horrifying news will make you even more scared of Ouija boards if you were not already.
William Fuld, the supervisor of Kennard Novelty Company, was well known for building various factories that sold Ouija Boards. His Ouija board was the most popular in the 19th century. Little did he know that these Ouija boards would bring his downfall.
He met a tragic death in 1972 when he fell from the roof of one of his factories, a factory where he was told to build the very Ouija Board his company had been making.
7. Bridge Made of Eggs
Surprisingly, there is an ancient bridge made of eggs, or egg whites to be exact that still stands to this day. This marks how creative and talented the architects of the previous era were.
This bridge was constructed in Lima, Peru in the early 17th century. Normally, while building bridges, architects and engineers use water to mix its mortar.
But that was not the case for this bridge. Instead of water, egg white from roughly 10,000 eggs were used to mix the mortar for this bridge. Where many people claimed this bridge would not stand, it still exists, defying everyone’s expectations.
8. Simulator Turned into Video Game
Most of the young generation has heard of playing the game “The Sims” Short for The Simulator; this is a life simulator game where you get to play as a character and live out his day-to-day life.
But that was not always the case. In fact, “The Sims” was initially made to be an architectural simulator, not a life simulator game. Before it became “The Sims”, it was known as “SimCity”, where an individual would make a house or a town with lots of houses, and autonomous characters would review that house.
8 amazing facts about architecture – Final Words
Being an architect involves more than just drawing houses on paper. Anyone interested in learning more about architecture will be amazed by its many fascinating facets.
Whether or not you are an architect, studying more about architecture may extend your perspective and stimulate your mind in many different ways. But if architecture interests you, there are many more things you can learn to feed your curiosity.
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Rowanbank Gardens Edinburgh Housing
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