Howard Roark should stand as an inspiration to all architects struggling with the traditional believes of people and society. Roark is an individualistic young architect who chooses to struggle in darkness rather than compromise his artistic and personal vision, resulting in his battle against society to practice modern architecture.
Architecture today is still seen through society’s eyes and is criticized. Although society seem to be more open minded to modern and new technology, the struggle of the architect still remains in the underlying knowledge of the technology at their disposal. The struggle begins from day one of being an architecture student as we must learn to take the criticism of our work and let it make us stronger. Believe me sometimes it is a struggle to stay a float but it is important that we as students stay above the water and voice our opinion, because after all we are the next generation of architects and it is important that we hold our own individualism as Roark did and not to follow the system as robots. Roark is an example to all as he is the embodiment of the human spirit and his struggle represents the triumph of individualism over collectivism.
Roark would not compromise his goals despite enormous pressures to do so. He believed that there is only black and white in moral issues; there is no gray. Therefore, giving in a little is not compromise but rather, selling out your values and giving in to evil. Roark was not a man to sell out, he had the courage of his convictions. His courage should be an inspiration to always voice your opinion even if it opposes the way of the present society.
Saturday, 28 November 2009
Discussion 8: All that is Solid melts into Air
Faust; the modern hero’s tragedy halts ‘precisely from his desire to eliminate tragedy’ his desire to create a safe new world ‘in which the look and feel of the old world have disappeared without a trace.’ Faust can be looked upon as the spiritual father of modernity grand visions and infinite hope as he becomes intertwined with a relationship embedded with fascination and alienation. The more one reads the more one understands his personal drives with economic, political and social forces that drive a connection between the solidity and warmth of life with people with the matrix of a concrete community. Goethe's Faust expressed the 'modern world-system coming into being' cut off from a world defined and bounded by tradition, religion, and superstition, Faust experienced overpowering calmness.
In this interesting book, Marshall Berman examines the conflict of classes, histories, and cultures, and contemplates our scenario for coming to terms with the relationship between a valuable social and theoretical idealism and a complex, overbearing materialism. Through reading the chapter on Faust I gathered an understanding about modernity, why certain anti-modern societies resist modernization. That understanding is that no tradition, which inherently protects the monarchy of privilege, can be maintained in the face of the attack of the profit-driven motive underlying capitalism, which will always seek out new markets to exploit, such as the unexploited market as protected by tradition.
Faust shares in common with the rest of humankind a desire to know as much as possible about the material and spiritual worlds. When pursuing such knowledge, does a person ever encounter boundaries that he or she must not cross, are there ethical and moral considerations that limit the scope of a person's quest for knowledge?
In this interesting book, Marshall Berman examines the conflict of classes, histories, and cultures, and contemplates our scenario for coming to terms with the relationship between a valuable social and theoretical idealism and a complex, overbearing materialism. Through reading the chapter on Faust I gathered an understanding about modernity, why certain anti-modern societies resist modernization. That understanding is that no tradition, which inherently protects the monarchy of privilege, can be maintained in the face of the attack of the profit-driven motive underlying capitalism, which will always seek out new markets to exploit, such as the unexploited market as protected by tradition.
Faust shares in common with the rest of humankind a desire to know as much as possible about the material and spiritual worlds. When pursuing such knowledge, does a person ever encounter boundaries that he or she must not cross, are there ethical and moral considerations that limit the scope of a person's quest for knowledge?
Monday, 16 November 2009
Discussion 7: Decline and Fall
‘Professor Silenus, known only for the “rejected design for a chewing-gum factory”, declares against man: “The only perfect building must be the factory, because that is built to house machines, not men […] All ill comes from man”. Silenus sympathizes with factories and machines rather than humans, and he advocates a mechanized modernity that threatens humanity.’
‘Decline and Fall suggests that repression of personal, cultural, and religious liberty is laudable.’
‘Decline and Fall is not a book of “faithless optimism, confident and aggressive”, but rather a carnivalesque dirge for the “restraint of traditional culture”.’
It would appear that this piece of writing is embedded with a social structure that is simply old fashioned where people are trying to adapt to a new world where society is knocking down their country houses to built modern building that are ‘Clean and Square.’ The downfall to taking their step to modernity as the machine would have it, is the fear of pieces of heritage being lost. This process is based on the whole idea of the modernity machine deeply in homed with humanity as architecture will always change and shape what the generation requires at the time.
Le Corbusier interest lay in humanity set opposed to something called nature and he was trying to drag it back. With this in mind Le Corbusier obsession with maths, correctness, organisation and technology offered him the equipment to rebuild his interests. As the machine has progressed and technology had greatened I believe this tool is now at our disposal. With the technologies of today and the attitudes of our past one could do perhaps anything. I enjoyed this discussion as I believe vernacular architecture holds a great significance in the world we live in today. It would appear to me that modernity is even taking a step to the vernacular in the next step of its methodology to greater its technology. The secret to the next step is to understand the history of architecture on a timeline and the history of humanity to a greater standard.
‘Decline and Fall suggests that repression of personal, cultural, and religious liberty is laudable.’
‘Decline and Fall is not a book of “faithless optimism, confident and aggressive”, but rather a carnivalesque dirge for the “restraint of traditional culture”.’
It would appear that this piece of writing is embedded with a social structure that is simply old fashioned where people are trying to adapt to a new world where society is knocking down their country houses to built modern building that are ‘Clean and Square.’ The downfall to taking their step to modernity as the machine would have it, is the fear of pieces of heritage being lost. This process is based on the whole idea of the modernity machine deeply in homed with humanity as architecture will always change and shape what the generation requires at the time.
Le Corbusier interest lay in humanity set opposed to something called nature and he was trying to drag it back. With this in mind Le Corbusier obsession with maths, correctness, organisation and technology offered him the equipment to rebuild his interests. As the machine has progressed and technology had greatened I believe this tool is now at our disposal. With the technologies of today and the attitudes of our past one could do perhaps anything. I enjoyed this discussion as I believe vernacular architecture holds a great significance in the world we live in today. It would appear to me that modernity is even taking a step to the vernacular in the next step of its methodology to greater its technology. The secret to the next step is to understand the history of architecture on a timeline and the history of humanity to a greater standard.
Friday, 6 November 2009
Discussion 6: Howl by Allen Ginsberg
This poem’ has come to represent an enduring counterculture, a set of young rebels – the Beats, and then their successors – who dress oddly, speak their own argot and hold straight, square and old bourgeois ways in fiery contempt…. And yet to look hard at the poem itself is to see a paradox. ’ - Stephen Burt - The Paradox of Howl
In my opinion even though the poem declares the forthcoming of a new culture and the end to the old habits of the past, Ginsberg has deeply intertwined the writing with the past. It’s as though he is fighting the machine. Ginsberg releases a continuous flow of thoughts, feelings, and impressions that has got me thinking about the world we are living in today. Perhaps we are all stuck in a matrix being controlled by what the machine does. Everything we do today is around the machine, even a simple visit to the super market or to the doctor. The machine is telling us what we should be eating and not, as well as the doctor telling us we’ve had too many units or aren’t eating healthy. Well I eat as much junk food as I please and drink when I want and I’m healthy so perhaps the machine is wrong.
As the poem talks about the coming of this new culture, where the machine controls all, we looked at Archigram in relation as they were obsession in the institute of state – machinery. Their approach was futurist, anti-heroic and pro-consumerist; they draw their inspiration from the technology in order to create a new reality that was expressed through hypothetical projects. It is quite scary as one looks around us as the world we are living in is becoming more and more like the archigram design. Everything we do is almost through a social network of the computer. As we are advancing more in technology we seem to be feeding the machine and advancing its control. Ginsberg and Archigram work predicted the forthcoming of this machine, which I feel as lead me to read and appreciate their work without the context of the time through the social and racial unrest. I feel their work at the time was futurist but as we stand today, its reality.
Who’s ready to fight the machine?
In my opinion even though the poem declares the forthcoming of a new culture and the end to the old habits of the past, Ginsberg has deeply intertwined the writing with the past. It’s as though he is fighting the machine. Ginsberg releases a continuous flow of thoughts, feelings, and impressions that has got me thinking about the world we are living in today. Perhaps we are all stuck in a matrix being controlled by what the machine does. Everything we do today is around the machine, even a simple visit to the super market or to the doctor. The machine is telling us what we should be eating and not, as well as the doctor telling us we’ve had too many units or aren’t eating healthy. Well I eat as much junk food as I please and drink when I want and I’m healthy so perhaps the machine is wrong.
As the poem talks about the coming of this new culture, where the machine controls all, we looked at Archigram in relation as they were obsession in the institute of state – machinery. Their approach was futurist, anti-heroic and pro-consumerist; they draw their inspiration from the technology in order to create a new reality that was expressed through hypothetical projects. It is quite scary as one looks around us as the world we are living in is becoming more and more like the archigram design. Everything we do is almost through a social network of the computer. As we are advancing more in technology we seem to be feeding the machine and advancing its control. Ginsberg and Archigram work predicted the forthcoming of this machine, which I feel as lead me to read and appreciate their work without the context of the time through the social and racial unrest. I feel their work at the time was futurist but as we stand today, its reality.
Who’s ready to fight the machine?
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