Reflection after studied Public Life/Space
After research over the weeks and the post on the blogs, as our lives separate by two parts, one is our private, domestic domain life and one is our public life.
For people to have public lives meaning there must be some sort of public spaces. In the past public place is consider as a space for people to interact with one and other, for example like the pavilion and market where there are a lots of human activities. Nowadays public space can be a space for memorial, celebration or for political events. Moreover that we can also consider some of ideology for urbanism can be consider as part of public life/space today. Take few examples from the big ideas of urbanism and city, those ideas can reflect to our current public life which build up our current society. Collage city idea from the big idea of city is very important and significant in my point of view, because every city in the world is like the paper collage one layer on top the another one. Cities have been developing for centuries and centuries. Cities have been through different era which different era will have slight different understanding of public life/space.
The nature of the social relationship between human being is simply how we organise ourselves to society, group. The reason everyone have different public life is because we arrange ourselves according to our backgrounds, memories, experience, and ideology towards certain things…. Etc. In my previous blogs that talks about that remember public space for people to go such as the Ground Zero and the Vietnam War Memorial, most people which will go to this place is because they are all sharing something in commend. Take an example from me, the Ground Zero is really meaning something to me, because it brings back my memory when I was travel around New York. The space it means something to my life.
The way those relationships manifest themselves spatially is through some ideology of the current society of that time. People tend to look forward to the future and thinking we will possibly have a better future, this is when Utopia idea comes across. Projects like Ville Radieuse and Ville Contemporaine from Le Corbusier, was Utopia idea that in the future the architecture will form the inner society. His idea is based on the future society everyone should have similar amount of space to live in.
Throughout my research there are something making me understand more about public spaces and architecture itself.
References from Junk Space make me understand more about the other approach looking at our public space and architecture space. As Rem Koolhass has mention on that book “If space-junk is the human debris that litters the universe, junk-space is the residue mankind leaves on the planet”. This statement reflects what he thinks about the public space this century. The building spaces claims to advanced modernisation but not modern architecture but “junk space” (Koolhaas,p175)
In the blog of immersive nature of city that have been discuss about the feature of time square that reflect back nowadays society towards architecture. One of the points that were mention in the blog is that contemporary architecture are mostly driven by economics, therefore without economic there will be less innovative, unlike the 60’s and 70’s. Compare this to the past, most of the architecture are not drive by economics, therefore they are build to symbolise power or with purpose. In the book junk space that Rem Koolhaas has state that many building we have within the city at the 21st century have not purpose. It will just become junk space, but also I did do a reflection response to this statement that Koolhaas has stated. Because of the fast growing of the population on Earth, people have to start building houses to accommodated for those population, however mass produce buildings might lose their architectural quality and become Koolhass’s eye’s Junk space.
In order for us to innovate and adapted the old time to the current, sometimes imagination play a big roles to help us innovate. Another case that imagination is helping us to innovate is the book Invisible cities. By using the object to describe the city we will all get different implication towards it because we all have different way to perceive. Utopia ideas help us innovate as well. It makes us have hope in the future and also make us look forward to the future. In both Ville Contemporaine from Le Corbusier and the Festival of Britain 1951, they both help us to look forward to the future. Especially for the Festival of Britain that is an attempt to give a sense of recovery and hope to Britain after Second World War.
In conclusion I think by understanding the peoples public life make me more understand about the principle of architecture. Which also help me to be more imaginative, as the message that Invisible cities try to deliver, our imagination is not necessarily limited by the laws of physics or the limitations of modern urban theory, which give us an alternative approach the perspective of cities.
Reference:
Koolhaas, Rem (2002) Junkspace. October, Vol. 100, Obsolescence. (Spring), pp. 175-190.
Calvino, Italo (1978) Invisbile Cities
Atlee, Allan - Cultural Context Lectures
Leisure Time - Easter Holidays Calton Hill, Edinburgh
During Easter Holidays, I have decide to take a break from my Terrain 01 project to go to Edinburgh to visit my friend. When I was at Edinburgh, I had visited one of the popular public space in there, Calton Hill. On the Easter holidays Calton hill are full of people, I think this space is great. Because people work in the city they don’t have time to enjoy themselves in natural environment and fresh air over the week days.
Over the weekends spend a whole afternoon on Calton Hill by climbing up the hill and enjoying the panorama view of Edinburgh. By doing those things will “recharge” people and they can prepare themselves for the challenge of the coming week days.
I think the meaning of public space to me is a “refreshing” experience, people who is in this public space can be relax and enjoy themselves while they are in there. Therefore I think the personal experience is very important to public spaces
Architourism
In this book, many of the essays are critically probe the tourist encounter experiences. In Karal Ann Marling’s essay, she mentions that tourists tend to get attract to the “architecture” the places like Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Walt Disney World in Orlando, and the Mall of America near Minneapolis.And at the end she mention we will miss the point if we neglect the positive trans-formative powers of those site that act on people.
In the few essays done by Yi-Fu Tuan and Tim Edensor, suggest that touring around the built environment such as Taj Mahal can potentially provide the tourist a sense of special feeling.
In Mitchell Schwarzer’s essay defining “architourism as it is popularly imagined: a worldwide, frequently urban, phenomenon where architects are design buildings to attract more tourists”. Also he admit in the essay that the architects’ desire to design iconic structure, but it is difference today “lies in the number of tourist-magnet buildings underway, as well as the global marketing considerations that go into all aspects of project planning, including design” (p. 25). Take an example Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain (1997), is considered a catalyst for this phenomenon. Even though that the “Bilbao Effect” may take in count to attract tourist. But the main cause of this phenomenon is Ghery provided the ability to capture the public imagination. which can be interchangeable with “architourism”.
This book have determined the view that can not separated architectural tourism with economic and political and social issues.
Fig 1: Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
Bibliography: Gruen, P. (2006), Review of Joan Ockman, Salomon Frausto, eds. Architourism: Authentic, Escapist, Exotic, Spectacular. Munich: Prestel Verlag, 2005, School of Architecture and Construction Management, Washington State University, viewed on 14th April, 2012 http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=12411
Photographs Reference:
Fig 1: Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
At http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/minlang/calendar/bilbaoinf_EN.asp
(accessed on the 05/05/2012)
Immersive nature of the modern city
The immersive nature of the modern city can not excluding big digital media displays on the buildings, busy street and famous landmark situated in the city. Let us take example of London and New York, they both have area that have big digital media displays on the wall of the building ie. Piccadilly Circus and Time Square
Fig 1: Piccadilly Circus
Fig 2: Time Square
From the big digital media display we can investigate the immersive nature of the modern city more deeply. Places with big digital media displays means to those companies there are lots of people from their target market segment will passed there everyday, therefore they have to invest large sum of money to do mass advertising which promote their service they provide. The one of the main reason this kind of commercial campaign activity happen in Time Square is because it is symbolise the Centre piece of US media. Lots of movies, TV series uses Time Square as background scene. By showing the Movies and TV series in the public will achieved the intention of those companies install those big digital displays.
Nowadays, most of the architecture are moved by economic movement, even we always say that a good designer should not move by economics. But being in a economic boost allowed the creativeness to innovate. Because there is financial allowance to try out new ideas. That is why creative industry are solely bond to the economic, even architecture. This is the immersive nature of the modern city.
Photographs Reference:
Fig 1: Piccadilly Circus
At http://curtisjagdevmedia.blogspot.co.uk/ (Accessed on 03/05/2012 )
Fig 2: Time Square
At http://www.cheaphotels.org/travelogues/2012/02/new-york-new-york/ (Accessed on 03/05/2012 )
Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino
Fig 1:
In the book Invisible cities we are exploring our imagination and being guide through by the description of the Marco Polo. The framed of this book is set up that there is a frictional conversation between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan(Chinese Emperor). The special feature about this book is that Polo does not describe the cities by using conventional way but the majority of the book consists of brief prose poems describing 55 cities.
Polo does not describe the city by their aesthetics but explaining the carious cities by using objects from the city to tell the emperor the stories. Because Marco Polo and Kublai Khan does not speak the same language. Therefore there some different understanding of implication when the stories are describe, and here is where the imagination plays an important role in this book, because it leaves many decisions for the individual reader.
By reading this book this make us realise that the stories is not only shows the implication of architecture but exploring our own imagination, which we should use our imagination is not necessarily limited by the laws of physics or the limitations of modern urban theory. Which give us an alternative approach the perspective of cities.
Referencing:
Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino
Photograph Reference:
Fig 1:
At http://52books.tumblr.com/post/287598330/50-invisible-cities-by-italo-calvino-as-a-huge ( Accessed on 30/04/2012)
Junkspace - Rem Koolhaas
Fig 1 :
Article written by Rem Koolhaas, that express his view about public spaces today.
” If space-junk is the human debris that litters the universe, junk-space is the residue mankind leaves on the planet”. He started this article with this statement of his idea. He thinks that those buildings that claim that they will advance modernisation are not modern architecture but “Junk-space”
He mention that “it was mistake to invent modern architecture for the 20th century; architecture disappeared in the 20th century”, many building we have within in the city in many country have already lost the architectural qualities, therefore at the end of the day those building just end up to be a junkspace that there is not purpose. Unlike the pyramid that was build with purpose and it have been standing there century after century. even though we can argue why it sudden there is many Junkspace appear in the end of 20th century, because of the increase of population, the city expand by using identical building, there is not much design thought put in there. which make the space non-purposeful. By reading this article start implant the idea more deeply that all the building have to be design for purpose. Otherwise we just end up like robot that mass produce something does not have any purpose.
References:
Koolhaas, Rem (2003). Junkspace, Harvard Press.
