Architecture and Perception: The Science of Art in Ruskin

The congruence of art and science is a complex consideration of importance to the study of architecture and the understanding of contemporary built environments. This discussion explores the science behind John Ruskin’s art to demonstrate how his paintings, drawings, and writing speak to scientific principles grounded in geology and sensory awareness that have a didactic application today. Ruskin’s science offers a theory of perception that relates to both sensory perception as physiology and the aesthetics of perception. Ruskin’s art advances a scientific theory of tactile perception in which the precision of his work provides a balanced approach to aesthetics, to natural science, and to a critique of nineteenth-century socio-cultural ethics. Tracing the scientific arc of perception throughout Ruskin’s writings reveals how his science of art is an aesthetically informed theory highly applicable to contemporary design and spatial awareness.