Islam

The term used in Arabic in order to define architecture is Handasa, but this term has a broader
meaning. Handasa is also used to name things like measurement, geometry, architecture and
technical engineering and even to refer to agronomy. According Morris this might be correct but not
with respect to other definitions. To name each of these fields it is necessary to clarify the term
Handasa. Architecture could be Handasa aldiya. The major contrast with our Western tradition is the
following fact: we relate closely architecture with the architect. In this sense, architecture is what
architects do. Arabs first define the term architecture and then someone will come and put it into
practice, the architect.
In this situation with so much diversity, we could think that every age has its own concept of
architecture. We can even ask ourselves: What is the definition of architecture nowadays ? Figuring
this out, would not be so easy, because apart from finding a diversity over time there is also a
diversity in the same place. For example, when Quatremre exposed his ideas there were more
radical positions. Boule said that architecture was nothing more than the project. Both Boule as
Quatremere were comptemporary , but there were other positions, like Milizia, who defended
Alberti's ideas, and did not accept Quatremre or Boule's opinions.
There is not only a diachronic diversity but also there is a synchronous diversity. The truth is that
there have been more or less consensus on this matter over time, and as a consequence it is not so
easy to have a clear idea about the definition of architecture. Even today the debate remains
unresolved.

For example, we could take the European concept, architecture is what the architect does. However,
this conception will have to face certain criticism. Paul Oliver says that if we consider all the
dwellings that exist, only in 1% of those dwellings an architect intervened. In the remaining 99%,
the architect has not made any kind of intervention. This definition of architecture would leave out
all those dwellings. Other definitions would also present problems, such as architecture conceived
as "the art of building". Is construction the same as making?
It is not easy to define something, to define something is to distinguish it from the others. Guillon,
based on the ideas of Veuflen, argued that architecture is a reflection of an era.