Week 4 - People and Lifestyles

Reading - Politics and the Situationist International

This week's reading, Politics and the Situationist International shone a a new perspective on architecture for me. Aldo van Eyck's ideas of "address[ing] matters beyond the mere form and function of a building" have totally flipped my perspective of approaching architecture. 

After reading the article I believe that architecture could be categorized into 2 types of building design; the first (the way I have viewed architecture for years) is that Architecture shapes the city around it. However Eyck's perspective was that the "patterns of life" shaped the architecture. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it's more like a 2 way street where one is constantly influencing the other and vice-verse.   

Further reading through the article Winters talks about the Moral and Political decisions of architecture. The analogy of the animal in nature versus a man's life is interesting. He believes that an animal's life is laid out in front of it and it follows a chosen path, where as man is free, free to choose his own life path. When applied to the current sustainability movement however, as it is becoming more and more apparent through popular media man has seemed to have chosen the 'correct' political decision over the correct moral decision. What I'm talking about here is that for decades man has ignored the facts the he is slowly destroying the earth with fossil fuel emissions and chosen what is easiest or cheapest, not necessarily the right answer. 

However just as Winters states, man "[has] not committed [himself] to live in a certain way; rather [he has] passively acquiesced in a life of numbing servitude" and it's only now that the shit is seemingly about to hit the fan that has man decided to think about and make to correct moral decisions.

Finally I'd like to  quote T.J. Clark; "Architecture is the final point in the achievement of any artistic endeavor because the creation of architecture implies the construction of an environment and establishment of a way of life." To me I interpret this as a building creates an environment and way of life around it, and in-turn this will influence the next piece of architecture to develop in the area. The city slowly evolves taking influence from itself creating new environments and ways of life to further influence the future of the city.



Lecture:
Sketches during the lecture:

1. I remembered one of the Pattern Language sketches, maybe it could be applied to a festival scenario. Develop high ground, audience sits on the hill, stage on other side of 'valley'. In case of rain potentially only the stage is at risk leaving the majority of development high and dry.

Insert Sketch

2. applying the Shearing skin layers to a festival layout. (not necessarily Woodford)

 Insert Sketch

Tute:
Today the group discussed 2 of the parts of Project 1.

Firstly the possible Future Visions and Scenarios:
We've decided to predict a future 50 years ahead (2062) which realistically isn't that far away however is a good distance in time to plan for some drastic changes in the world's environment. The topics that we have chosen to research are:
- Global Warming and it's threats
- Increasing Severity of weather systems
- Rising Sea Level
- The Sustainable product 'boom'

Secondly was the Architectural Possibilities and Sustainable Future:
-Architectural Patterns
   - Agricultural Valleys - Build on high ground, farm on low ground

   - Activity Nodes
   - Site Repair (only build on land that is already ruined or cleared) 
- The Woodford 500 year plan and the values and principles of the plan