雅思大作文真题2013年3月14日文化类

文化类

It is more important for a building to serve a purpose than to look beautiful. Architects shouldn’t worry about producing building as a work of art. Do you agree or disagree?

7分范文：

I agree with the view presented above that function should come first in architecture, although I have no intention to deny that beauty is also an important element.

In essence, any building is constructed to serve a purpose, which might be accommodating, storing, recreating, entertaining, manufacturing and so forth. Therefore utility is widely recognized by most architects and the general public as well. It is especially practical today to consider such characteristics as spatial grammar, convenience, firmness, material cost and construction speed in the residential construction due to the stress on house access from the increasing population and the development of urbanization. Focusing on function is also a cost saving practice as various ornaments which serve no obvious function would be simplified at the greatest extent or even eliminated.

However, artistic structures can be seen in many places around the world. Human has the nature to pursue beauty and express their feelings through art works and architecture definitely is one of them by which this goal can be achieved. Over emphasis on architectural function tends to global similarity as international tourists have witnessed. In contrast, a building with certain aesthetic value is always unique and therefore adorned by local people or even foreigners and cherished as a cultural treasure, such as the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube in Beijing which have been not only an ordinary Olympic stadium or a swimming pool but also a hot tourist spot due to their unique splendid exterior. However, the external appearance should not be the most important consideration as a good looking but less useful building is just a waste of substantial resources such as wood, steel, cement, energy sources and labor force, all of which have to be invested in

In my personal view, it would be ideal that a building satisfies both functional and aesthetic aspects. If these two cannot be achieved simultaneously, then function should be taken as the priority instead of the outward look. （327字）