Architecture looks at the man-made living environment．Every great culture in the past had its own ideas of beauty expressed in art and architecture．When you look around at buildings, streets，squares and parks．you will find them designed，planned and built in different styles.
Modernism was invented in the 1920s by a group of architects who wanted to change society with buildings that went against people’s feeling of beauty．They wanted their buildings constructed in a way to look unnatural．
While in traditional architecture materials such as earth，stone，brick and wood are used，the materials of modern architecture are steel, glass and concrete. To many people modern architecture equals progress. Developing countries want to build the most modern-looking buildings as the first step towards becoming a modern country．
Modern buildings impress us because they are huge, but many people do not find them beautiful. The buildings look like boxes with flat roofs，sharp comers and glass walls that act as mirrors. You do not feel invited to enter them．Everything about these buildings seems hard and unfriendly．
Ancient architecture shows US many beautiful buildings．These include great examples such as Taihe Dian，the Temple of Heaven or the great European cathedrals．Both in the choice of materials and shape of buildings，ancient architecture stands much closer to nature．
Nature does not have any straight lines．Antonio Gaudi，a Spanish architect．was the first to understand that．There are not any sharp comers or straight lines in any of his designs．He only wanted natural materials，such as stone，brick and wood to be used and many parts of his buildings look like things we find in nature．In some of his architecture，balconies look like eyes．other parts look like bones，the walls seem to be covered with the skin of a fish, while the roof looks like the back of a dragon．Most of Gaudi’s works were constructed in and around Barcelona．Looking at the architecture by Gaudi is like a dream，full of fantastic colours and shapes． |