The Five Envelops of Architecture

Abstract

This is an unorthodox study for an understanding of architecture by way of juxtaposing it with another art-form, namely, painting. It is a phenomenological hermeneutic interpretation of the work of the contemporary Pakistani painter Shazly Khan, whose depiction of the urban and natural environments-I would suggest- is of special significance to learning about often hidden aspects of architecture. In other words, what follows is a way of understanding architecture and its embodiment from a source external to it: In contemplating the paintings of Shazly Khan new ideas are revealed, intrinsic ideas that seldom surface during the design process but are, nevertheless, fundamental for the needs of the client and should not be neglected or over looked.
In a comparative outlook study of the arts, it could be observed that architecture and painting share an extremely important point of convergence, a point which is embodied in the notion that they do not only present us with a frozen image cut from time and space, rather they present a complete lived experience within their respective spaces. Our mind interacts with these experiences and are transformed by them. Thus, the hypothesis here is that architecture has the potential capacity to present us with experience that could transform human life.
Perhaps what gives this study credibility is that, in its interpretive methodology, it does not depend on subjective speculation. Rather, objectivity is insured through engaging the painter herself in a deep discussion throughout the course of this interpretive exercise, which would render immunity against straying in personal hermeneutics of the ideas presented in the paintings that are not meant by the painter herself. The production of the paintings depends generally on pure intuition, whereas, in the case of the interpreter, a deductive methodology is adopted in which he moves from the presented perceived facts to construct a theoretical hypothesis that would interpret the body of the painters work. Through studying samples of the painters work, a matrix model is thus constructed (the Five Envelops) not only to interpret and understand selected paintings but the painters whole body of work, especially the paintings that carry special significance to better the understanding of the background of the currently prevailing architectural design process, which, I consider, lacking. Herein lies the problematic suggested by this study.