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increased luxury related to increased permanence?

mondays

Question:

I'm in the middle of my dissertation ...and have just come to this conclusion that with the increase of luxury -there is also an increase of "permanence" in structures... I'm sure this has been written about before somewhere, but this is only to back up a minor argument within my dissertation and I need to find a good authoritive source quickly. Any ideas on who to look up?

briefly; I have been writing about tents and how they are probably the truest form of shelter because it is in their nature to be without extra luxuries because they are temporary... but how even (some of them) are becoming more luxurious nowadays, e.g. whitepod hotel in Switzerland, but also seem more permanent (even though they are still tents) because of the increased luxury they provide.

any help would be greatly appreciated

thnx.

 
Jan 28, 06 2:19 pm
e

on a similar but related topic, the nyt's ran an article last week on the obesity problem in the united states and how it depends on and also drives the u.s economy. how's that for luxury and permance? sorry i can't find the article now. interesting side note though.

Jan 28, 06 2:42 pm  · 
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evilplatypus

I dont of any authors, but some urban socioligts have studied Chicago, NY, Philly and Boston - essentially older industrial cities and found that the housing cycle has gone through a process of Wealthy single family home, to Middle class 2 family flats, to multiple single occupancy rooms to tennament - all in the life cycle of the same structure. But the cycle was do to the rather permanent nature of the quality of the structural materials and ease of adaptation for mechanicals. Maybe our McMansions are tomorrow's suburban tenaments? Or maybe our McMansions are just illusionary architypes for housing product?

Jan 28, 06 2:56 pm  · 
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Living in Gin

Most McMansions are so shoddily constructed, I doubt they'll still be standing in 30 years.

Jan 28, 06 5:12 pm  · 
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if they are still around, a demographer here - works in the ky data center - has posited that in the post baby-boomer era no one will be able to afford the mcmansions with their huge volumes of undefined space and they'll be divided up as apartment houses like the grand old mansions of the railroad era. strange and funny to picture this...

Jan 28, 06 8:33 pm  · 
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mondays

McMansions are interesting... and it kindof goes with Maslow's "hierarchy of needs" theory... they are probably at the "esteem needs" level of human aspiration.

But maslow is more psychology than architectural theory...

:-)

any ideas on anyone that investigated materials and luxury?

I mean, there is a correlation between more durable materials being more luxurious...

Jan 29, 06 7:28 am  · 
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sporadic supernova

I've heard of many hotels in India, where the rooms are high end luxury tents !!

If i'm not mistakes.. most of them are in North India, near and around Rajastan.

Two of those that I can confirm is the "Amar Vanyavilas"
and "the Oberoi Rajvilas" in Jaipur

maybe you should just google on these

Jan 29, 06 7:38 am  · 
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mondays

yes but those tents are fixed to one point permanently right?

they are not in a sense "temporary"... they have an infrostructure around them makes it necessary for them to stay at one point.

otherwise it wouldn't be luxury...



Jan 29, 06 8:07 am  · 
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Try reading the first three chapters of Egyptian Architecture as Cultural Expression by Earl Baldwin Smith (1938).

Jan 29, 06 9:24 am  · 
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mondays

thnx.

Jan 30, 06 12:26 pm  · 
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