ARCHITECTONIC

In philosophy, 'Architectonics' is the scientific systematisation of all knowledge. The term was first used by Aristotle in his ''Politics'' to describe politics, meaning that politics ''encompasses all knowledge''.
In architecture it is often defined as "of or relating to the science of architecture and design". In this sense, "Architectonic" means the art and science of building and construction. The word began to acquire its modern meaning in the late nineteenth century in Germany as ''architektonisch'' to define a type of perceived sensibility to form and design, a sensibility that preferred the simple over the complex, and the well-built over the mass-produced. Today, the word architectonics is used more narrowly in a semiotic sense to refer to the use of parts as expressive signs that comprise the language system of the building.
The term is also used to describe an approach to designing where the structural elements of a building are revealed, and their function expressed. Louis Kahn's Yale Center for British Art or Richard Rogers' Pompidou Center.