Verities of detail : a study on use of details in buildings, and it's involvement to enhance the concept of the design

Abstract

Though, architectural details play a major role through out the history up to date, they are considered as secondary elements in Architecture. In their creations our ancestors used variety of details in their creations for various purposes. Some of the details performing as sings and symbols even in the most primitive societies. This symbol creating function is said to be one of the mankind's primary activities, which developed in to a work of art. Incorporation of details in Architecture adds beauty to the product and performs various functions. Details help the integration of various building elements together and give uniqueness to it while showing ethnicity, culture and the prevailing Architectural style. Therefore it is prominent that the integration of uniqueness, ethnicity, culture and style together can give an identity to a place or a building, Though the identity of a place, a person perceives the sense of place, The varieties or truths of details acts as the vehicle to create an appropriate ambience for each individual to feel his own identity and to make him belong to that place. Sense of belongingness to a certain place makes oneself a part of his surrounding environment; a part of whole. This phenomenon is called as the concept of authenticity. Authentic places help a person to become a part of his surroundings, bounding him to the context and to feel that the rest of the world does not exist. Creation of such appropriate detailing according to the perceiver's taste, together with Architect's talents. But many of modern days architecture lacks his meaningful, appropriate details, catering only towards functional and constructional aspects. Thus making the human being lost, in the modern day building without a sense of place or identity. Many writers have echoed that modern life is filled with an overwhelming sense of fragmentation and transitoriness. This has created a need in urban man to escape from his every day life, in search of something more real, than today high rise buildings and materialistic life style. This demand has been met with many ways. One way of meeting this demand is the hospitality industry, with their creation of modern day resort hotels. This phenomenon has given rise to a new dimension in architecture. The tourist industry has created a new niche by marketing what is termed as the concept of authenticity, according to many writers and researchers of Resort hotel trade. This concept is meant to offer tourists a glimpse in to another culture via the resort hotels. Many examples of such can be cited in Sri Lankan context. So that the modern day architect of these resort hotels is confronted with creating a real situation out of exercise which in its extreme from of fantasy. This study intends to focus on how these resorts attempts to achieve this sense of authenticity through architectural details. The theme of the essay revolves around detailing as an approach to the creation of resort architecture.