Humean Delicacy Concerning Architectural Evaluation

This article proposes a methodological approach to architectural evaluation of design that employs the delicacy that David Hume would typically attribute to what he refers to as “true judges.” It argues that delicacy is required to identify, justify, and link architectural design to its normative standards of evaluation and describes how such a normative standard would look based on design sentiments approved by the consensus in the field. Following the Vitruvian precepts, this evaluation process would encompass the established principles and their epistemic foundations. Therefore, by acknowledging prevalent theories of aesthetics and architectural philosophy, a well-rounded critique would find its root.