The impact architecture has on a society's spirit cannot be underestimated.
The Future:
Architecture it returning to nature oriented design. Many examples exist of which "The Water Garden" office complex of Santa Monica, CA is an excellent representative. Its focal point is a man-made lake with islands connected by curving walkways. The lake offers a relaxing workday intermission for thousands of office employees. This design by McLarand, Vasquez & Partners was the named the 2005 International Office Building of the Year (TOBY) (available (http://www.wg-la.com/default.htm).Eight office towers provide 1.25 million square feet of office space yet the emphasis is on the human element. The towers are characterized by gently curving edges that evoke images of waves and watercourses.
Various hotels in Las Vegas now emphasize water as part of its entertainment theme. For example the famous Bellagio "dancing water fountains" are attractive and relaxing. Water as a source of relaxation explains the popularity of themed water parks. For example, "Disney World's Blizzard Beach, an illusory wintry water wonderland, is another spine chilling adventure. Beach guests can bobsled down the 'snowy' slopes of Mount Gushmore or plunge down the 120-foot-high Summit Plummet, reportedly the tallest, fastest free-fall speed slide in the world" (p. 116).
Yet a more personal level is the famed Elrod House by John Lautner. In this case, there is an interweaving of natural elements in which the house is not the center attraction. Instead, nature is the attraction and the home is a minimally intrusive construct. As Alan Hess states, "Lautner followed a variety of tacks in relating his houses to nature. Early structures like the Mauer house are rooted to the ground, with terraces and walls growing up out of the earth; the concrete Elrod house is scooped out of the desert rock." (p. 16). This outcome is the realization of a human residence skillfully blended into a natural setting.
Office parks - work environments, water parks - play environments, and natural settings - home environments, each reflect an architectural design intended to emphasize oneness with nature. Enlightened people no longer wish to dominate nature but would rather join with it. We are but a part; we should not strive to be its center. Construction used in each of these examples...
architects in the 21st century is the issue of sustainability. Not only is there no consensus opinion on how to approach the issue of sustainability in academic circles but there is also no formula of integrating sustainability into architectural curriculum (Wright, 2003). This deficiency underscores an even more stressing problem, however: as Edwards and Hyett (2010) note, "the techniques and technologies of green design are now generally understood --
Live Concert Analysis How Doing Good Makes Us Feel Powerful and Powerless at the Same Time Design Activism vs. Design for Social Change The Awakening Consciousness of Designers 1960's Manifesto There has been lukewarm interest in public service design, social impact and design activism. But in most conversations, all other designs work to enhance the standard of living of the people; some of it must be activism. The argument is seldom boosted by the notion
A favorite target for conspiracists today as well as in the past, a group of European intellectuals created the Order of the Illuminati in May 1776, in Bavaria, Germany, under the leadership of Adam Weishaupt (Atkins, 2002). In this regard, Stewart (2002) reports that, "The 'great' conspiracy organized in the last half of the eighteenth century through the efforts of a number of secret societies that were striving for
Specifically, James describes a variety of buildings to demonstrate the various elements that Kahn uses in his architecture. One building of particular interest is his Yale Center for British Arts. Here, the cylindrical stair tower in the courtyard of the Center introduces an imposing note (James, p. 49). In contrast, and indeed according to Khan's ideal, the facades are understated and reserved. The elevations of the courtyard and galleries adhere
Centenary of Canberra National capital cities, also referred to as the national cultural institutions (NCIs), are omnipresent social and spatial phenomena which have surfaced and sustained across the years simultaneously with the concept and the emergence of the nation-state (Therborn 2002). At an over-all level, this paper hence seeks to investigate how national capitals as a definite type of space have already been socially formed. More especially, this paper seeks regarding
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