Technology
Oh, technology, how I love thee...right now, I am sitting in a very uncomfortable position in my room because I cannot pick up wireless in the lounge or my favorite late-night coffeeshop. However, I am also typing, rather than writing, this, and will post it for all to see online instead of handing it in. I am not sure how I feel about the ubiquity of technology. I mean, I could post something that was viewed around, and changed, the world. Conversely, I could post something read by the exact wrong person, and have some consequences I would rather not think about. This sort of double-edged sword does not just hold true for internet technologies, but also for architectural ones.
Take, for instance, the CATIA (which may or may not start with a "C") software used by Frank Gehry. It certainly has changed the sorts of architecture that can be created. Whether for better or worse, though, is questionable. His work, to me, looks more like modern art than architecture, but this perhaps is creating more fusion between the two. His museums, in particular, reflect their content much more than most buildings, which is more of an inward-facing approach than traditionally used. However, they often lose the outward-facing approach of fitting in with their context. If/when more architects begin to use this and other new technologies, I wonder what sort of architecture will emerge...perhaps all buildings will eventually look like Frank Gehry’s, and they will be in context.