In our profession, there is this constant gloom and doom factor regarding the future of architecture and architects. Maybe I'm growing naive, but I increasingly just don't understand it. Folks were building huts since the beginning of time... they were not necessarily beautiful, but functional. Simultaneously, depending on the culture, elaborate temples, pyramids, entertainment facilities, and monuments were erected. One could argue that these people had a lack of respect for architecture in the same way that we infer today. Thousands of years later, look at us... we are still architects. We're still here, still designing stuff.
Sure appreciation has been cyclical. What causes the high points? Great advancements that drastically alter the built environment. Would it then be true that this perceived “decline” in our profession is our own static behavior - lacking innovation?
well, right, because efficacy springs economical savings, so that's sort of a universally appreciated item.
I understand that we're in an age of refinement right now, but also understand that we're due for another break through any time now. Efficiency is great, but I would like to get at something that improves life so much, that "marketing" isn't even needed. This will not come from designing for aesthetic, but instead that which makes life easier, more pleasant, and of course efficient.
Tim
How do you deal with the fact that esthetic pleasure is an essential part of everyday life in our relationship with any material presence that we encounter (cellphone, girls, boys, book cover, website interface, whatever..)?
I saw DOOM this weekend. It was stupid. But stupid in a good way. Get out of studio for a few hours, unplug my brain, and watch the Rock blow stuff up. RAAAAAR!
yes, like a red rush of fever taking on your loins? when i get excited my belly fills up with acid not butterflies and i can taste desperation. discontent is a force and i think its all a fear of death but i'm not afraid. you see? culturally amassed, you can't take language too seriously even as you pronounce it. the 'death of an author/architect/' is stated too easily but its understandable. how can one be clever and not say anything? pronouncing a death is a sign of intelligence shaman-like. i dont understand monks or silence oaths but what is said doesnt mean its 'true'. why is only poetry (in its guises) loaded with a priori expectation of 'the whimsy of rhetoric' ...gruesome how stupidly positivistic some people can be, i hate it and i hate them. its always a hitler on a keyboard. and sometimes go out in mother theresa drag like an architecture student who swears by irreverence. your gods are just so smug and serious i'll go rub myself with poison ivy now.
Oct 31, 05 5:19 am ·
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The Doom and Gloom Factor
A thought...
In our profession, there is this constant gloom and doom factor regarding the future of architecture and architects. Maybe I'm growing naive, but I increasingly just don't understand it. Folks were building huts since the beginning of time... they were not necessarily beautiful, but functional. Simultaneously, depending on the culture, elaborate temples, pyramids, entertainment facilities, and monuments were erected. One could argue that these people had a lack of respect for architecture in the same way that we infer today. Thousands of years later, look at us... we are still architects. We're still here, still designing stuff.
Sure appreciation has been cyclical. What causes the high points? Great advancements that drastically alter the built environment. Would it then be true that this perceived “decline” in our profession is our own static behavior - lacking innovation?
Let's discuss.....
how could decline or incline ( :-) ) be measured?
% take from built projects?
suicides per age group? :-)
(oh, sorry, that was a dark joke)
well, right, because efficacy springs economical savings, so that's sort of a universally appreciated item.
I understand that we're in an age of refinement right now, but also understand that we're due for another break through any time now. Efficiency is great, but I would like to get at something that improves life so much, that "marketing" isn't even needed. This will not come from designing for aesthetic, but instead that which makes life easier, more pleasant, and of course efficient.
Tim
How do you deal with the fact that esthetic pleasure is an essential part of everyday life in our relationship with any material presence that we encounter (cellphone, girls, boys, book cover, website interface, whatever..)?
I saw DOOM this weekend. It was stupid. But stupid in a good way. Get out of studio for a few hours, unplug my brain, and watch the Rock blow stuff up. RAAAAAR!
yes, like a red rush of fever taking on your loins? when i get excited my belly fills up with acid not butterflies and i can taste desperation. discontent is a force and i think its all a fear of death but i'm not afraid. you see? culturally amassed, you can't take language too seriously even as you pronounce it. the 'death of an author/architect/' is stated too easily but its understandable. how can one be clever and not say anything? pronouncing a death is a sign of intelligence shaman-like. i dont understand monks or silence oaths but what is said doesnt mean its 'true'. why is only poetry (in its guises) loaded with a priori expectation of 'the whimsy of rhetoric' ...gruesome how stupidly positivistic some people can be, i hate it and i hate them. its always a hitler on a keyboard. and sometimes go out in mother theresa drag like an architecture student who swears by irreverence. your gods are just so smug and serious i'll go rub myself with poison ivy now.
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