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The Impact of Globalisation on Architecture and Architectural Ethics

Published on January 9, 2012 in Book and Newsletter. 0 Comments

The Impact of Globalisation on Architecture and Architectural Ethics by Faida Noori Salim  is now available as part of  The Constructed Environment series.

The development of globalisation, both economically and financially, has promoted the flow of both information and people. Globalisation is seen as an outcome of advancing communication technology and the development of the Internet, which subsequently encouraged international interdependence and the compression of time and space. This book is devoted to answering the question: In what way does the impact of globalisation affect the role of architecture, and how should it be interpreted ethically? This book argues that the ethical evaluation of the role of architecture should be linked to architecture’s natural ethical responsibility to form a relationship with a culture. Today, iconic architectural forms and celebrity architects lead the innovation/transformation process, while the “ordinary” practice of architecture leads the innovation/stabilization process using the differentiation/integration dynamic. Architectural theory advances the use of the interpretation/reinterpretation dynamic in architecture, which helps to destabilise meaning in architectural language. When this theory is transcribed to real world architecture, it can result in the alienation of the physical horizons of cities and thus in the alienation of its citizens.

Faida Noori Salim is an Assistant Professor. She graduated from the University of Baghdad in June 1975 and obtained her Master’s Degree in Architectural Studies at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in May 1984. She has taught in three Departments of Architecture in Iraq: The University of Baghdad, The University of Mosul, and the University of Technology. She studied for her Doctoral degree at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and graduated in March 2011.

The wisdom of crowds: The strange but extremely valuable science of how pedestrians behave

Published on January 4, 2012 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

From The Economist…

Imagine that you are French. You are walking along a busy pavement in Paris and another pedestrian is approaching from the opposite direction. A collision will occur unless you each move out of the other’s way. Which way do you step?

The answer is almost certainly to the right. Replay the same scene in many parts of Asia, however, and you would probably move to the left. It is not obvious why. There is no instruction to head in a specific direction (South Korea, where there is a campaign to get people to walk on the right, is an exception). There is no simple correlation with the side of the road on which people drive: Londoners funnel to the right on pavements, for example.

Instead, says Mehdi Moussaid of the Max Planck Institute in Berlin, this is a behaviour brought about by probabilities. If two opposing people guess each other’s intentions correctly, each moving to one side and allowing the other past, then they are likely to choose to move the same way the next time they need to avoid a collision. The probability of a successful manoeuvre increases as more and more people adopt a bias in one direction, until the tendency sticks. Whether it’s right or left does not matter; what does is that it is the unspoken will of the majority. More…

The Impact of Globalisation on Architecture and Architectural Ethics

Published on December 21, 2011 in Book, Headline and Newsletter. 0 Comments

The Impact of Globalisation on Architecture and Architectural Ethics by Faida Noori Salim  is now available as part of  The Constructed Environment series.

The development of globalisation, both economically and financially, has promoted the flow of both information and people. Globalisation is seen as an outcome of advancing communication technology and the development of the Internet, which subsequently encouraged international interdependence and the compression of time and space. This book is devoted to answering the question: In what way does the impact of globalisation affect the role of architecture, and how should it be interpreted ethically? This book argues that the ethical evaluation of the role of architecture should be linked to architecture’s natural ethical responsibility to form a relationship with a culture. Today, iconic architectural forms and celebrity architects lead the innovation/transformation process, while the “ordinary” practice of architecture leads the innovation/stabilization process using the differentiation/integration dynamic. Architectural theory advances the use of the interpretation/reinterpretation dynamic in architecture, which helps to destabilise meaning in architectural language. When this theory is transcribed to real world architecture, it can result in the alienation of the physical horizons of cities and thus in the alienation of its citizens.

Faida Noori Salim is an Assistant Professor. She graduated from the University of Baghdad in June 1975 and obtained her Master’s Degree in Architectural Studies at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in May 1984. She has taught in three Departments of Architecture in Iraq: The University of Baghdad, The University of Mosul, and the University of Technology. She studied for her Doctoral degree at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and graduated in March 2011.

Mima House by Mima Architects

Published on December 19, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

From Dezeen…

Mima House
Viana do Castelo, Portugal

MIMA started from the intention of planning a dwelling that responds directly to the lifestyle of nowadays’ societies. How can architecture adapt to the quick life changes and ambitions of a well informed and increasingly exigent society? MIMA architects researched during years to be able to put together on a single object a fast produced, flexible, light and cheap yet good quality product, wrapped up with a pleasant clean design.

Motivation
More fundamentally, MIMA responds to the modern dream for clean sophisticated design and bright open spaces, launching in the housing market a dream 36 sq.m. dwelling which costs the same as a mid-range car.

Inspiration
MIMA’s concept is fundamentally inspired on the traditional Japanese house, the perfect paradigm for lightness, flexibility, comfort and pleasing lines.

The restrained order of its standardized building parts appealed to MIMA architects as the hallmark of a deeply rooted culture, confirmed over centuries and easily adaptable to any new development. More…

The Portland Building by Michael Graves added to National Register of Historic Places

Published on December 12, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

From Dezeen…

Designed by international architects and designers Michael Graves & Associates (MGA), The Portland Public Service Building, known simply as The Portland Building, was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places.

“It pleases me tremendously that the Portland Building has been given National Historic Register designation,” said Graves. “The building occupies such a pivotal place in the architecture of the last quarter of the 20th century and its appropriateness for historic status has now been confirmed. The building represents the first of many which have helped redefine the traditional urban fabric of our cities.”

Graves’ design for The Portland Building was selected in a 1980 design-build competition sponsored by the city of Portland, Oregon, and it immediately became a subject of national debate for the architecture community. Occupying the entirety of a 200-foot square block in downtown Portland, the 15-story building houses the city’s municipal offices. It is adjacent to City Hall and County Courthouse buildings on two sides, and the public transit mall and the park on the other two sides. The design emphasized engagement with the site’s physical and historical context and its stylized references to local colors and historical symbolism were among the earliest examples of tactics now considered definitive of Postmodern classicism. More…

Meditation Hut III “Victor” / Jeffery S. Poss Architect

Published on December 9, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

(Credit: Jeffery S. Poss)

 

From Victoria King at ArchDaily…

Architect: Jeffery S. Poss Architect
Location: Champaign, Illinois, USA
Design Associates: Workus Studio LLC, Crete, Illinois
General Contractor: Dreamworks Construction
Structural Consultant: PREPA.R.E. INC.
Geotechnical Consultant: Midwest Engineering Services, Inc.
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Jeffery S. Poss

The owners of a forested property wanted a quiet space to observe the surrounding nature. A naturalized understory leads to a visually kinetic approach ramp that contrasts to the subtle interior. Entry to the hut is through an obscured door detailed like the cedar walls. Inside an oversized window opposite the entrance immediately pulls the view back outside to a composed view of mature trees. Adjacent to this is a miniature tea cabinet. A raised platform in the main space supports three tatami mats. More…

Cultural Sustainability and Changing Worldview: Dilemmas of Architecture and the Built Form

Published on December 9, 2011 in Book and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Cultural Sustainability and Changing Worldview: Dilemmas of Architecture and the Built Form by Faida Noori Salim  is now available as part of  The Constructed Environment series.

“Network societies” will never replace traditional communities. In today’s evolving global culture, the issues of cultural sustainability, identity, and belonging are being challenged. At the heart of this challenge is the difficulty of individuals’ spatial and social assimilation. Looking back, architecture and the constructed urban form have always faced dilemmas that continue to challenge communities. Thus, the challenge facing the traditional mechanisms of belonging is an urgent matter and is presented as a dilemma due to the transitional nature of today’s time period. Individuals as users and as architects need to rediscover the secure home and place, without which no community can be sustained.

This book discusses Baghdad as an example of a city whose cultural stability was challenged over a short period of time, and should serve as a reminder to other cities of the importance of stability and belonging. The flow of information affects the flow of people’s inner space, which can no longer be thought of as internally controlled, and architecture should be aware of such changes and the dilemma it creates for the occupation of space. It concludes that architecture and the built form cannot afford to continue on its current path if society aims at sustaining its cultural and social capital. This is especially evident in the fact that architecture is closely linked to power, which has an important role in the stability of communities and their cultures.

The role of iconic architecture’s transition to sovereign architecture plays an important role in changing the norms of the built form and asserting new rules. Thus, the role of the architect’s responsibility becomes increasingly important, and the question of good faith and freedom becomes central in relation to the ethical role of the architect and architecture in the social system.

Faida Noori Salim is an Assistant Professor. She graduated from the University of Baghdad in June 1975 and obtained her Master’s Degree in Architectural Studies at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in May 1984. She has taught in three Departments of Architecture in Iraq: The University of Baghdad, The University of Mosul, and the University of Technology. She studied for her Doctoral degree at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and graduated in March 2011.

The Shard: its architect’s view

Published on November 28, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

From Dominic Bradbury at The Telegraph…

The views from the summit of the Shard are astonishing. London is spread out before you like a vast, moving tapestry. You can look out at Wembley Stadium and the Olympic Park, follow the winding route of the Thames and gaze down on the Gherkin and the NatWest Tower. Directly below you sits Southwark Cathedral, looking like an exquisite toy, and a mass of spaghetti formed by train lines converging on London Bridge railway station. This is the tallest building in Europe, and its viewing gallery, which occupies storeys 68 to 72, will become one of the city’s major tourist attractions when it opens in 2013.

Just as you can see out of its windows for as much as 40 miles on a clear day, so you can see the Shard, which is 1,016ft high, from almost everywhere in the capital. Its sculpted, tapering form has become the most visible landmark on London’s skyline, and a source of deep fascination before its construction has even been completed. No wonder, then, that for its architect, Renzo Piano, the project carries with it a deep sense of responsibility. More…

The Constructed Environment Journal, Volume 1, Issue 3 published

Published on November 23, 2011 in Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

constructed_frontThe third issue of  The International Journal of the Constructed Environment has now been published.

Volume 1, Issue 3 contains:

Continue reading ‘The Constructed Environment Journal, Volume 1, Issue 3 published’

Post-modernism Comes of Age

Published on November 9, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

From Charles Jencks at Blueprint Magazine…

Strange as it may sound, post-modern architecture flourished after it was declared dead in the Nineties. Perhaps all it needed was a name change, the disappearance of a moniker that had tantalised people for 20 years. Whatever the case, ‘post-modernism blossomed after the millennium in all but name, especially in architecture. With the return of ornament and pattern-making, the explosive growth in iconic buildings and landmark sculptures – works that are symbolic and highly communicative – many of the PM concerns of the Eighties and Nineties have become central to society.

This cryptic rebirth raises the question of how we categorise a period, especially the modern one. Most historians date the modern age to the Renaissance for two essential reasons: the birth of the global economy and the nation state. Beyond such determinants there are the words of the participants themselves, the repetitive use of that big brand ‘moderna’, and its cognate terms of praise. Architects and historians, such as Filarete and Vasari, used that term positively on countless occasions. If one accepts that both popular and professional usage defines labels, then one might call the period 1970-1990 a post-modern era; but I think that would be a kind of modern mistake. It would be reductive, oversimplifying many different voices, and would erase the important continuities as well as a greater global truth. Much of the world is still embedded in traditional culture. Rather, it makes sense to conceive of history as interacting multiple waves, or parallel bands or rivers that compete and go underground or perhaps re-emerge for short periods. More…