What is meant
The text holds that dwelling and architecture, in their origin, begin with practical need before any aesthetic consideration Beauty comes later, after function has been achieved, not as the foundation of the initial structure
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Movement of the argument: it makes function the origin of architecture and beauty subsequent.
- Key terms: function, beauty, architecture.
- Degree of centrality: subsidiary.
It defines architecture as a response to a practical need first, then acquiring an aesthetic dimension afterward. In this way, it establishes a conceptual ordering between utility and ornament.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur and the Book and the Qur’an
- the method of contemporary reading
- Architecture begins with function, then beauty comes
Basis
- Supporting text: ««The beginning of dwelling for human beings was functional to the utmost limits, and beauty had no role in it.» «Now we can say that architecture is function first… then the aesthetic concept came second.»».
Degree of documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of reading: the formulation above is an analytical summary, and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is cited textually.
Its function in the book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports a larger conclusion in the chapter or prepares the way for it.
Related to
Editorial note
The atom is an example of the primacy of function in building.