Reading #14
Reading #14: Nature and the Idea of a Man-Made World, By Norman Crowe: “Geometry and the Primacy of Dwelling�
Keywords:
1. Paradigm: Crowe uses this term throughout the whole chapter. He continually describes various paradigms for today’s architecture. “Architecture and settlements served as paradigms for more structured ways of thinking, just as the natural enviroment had sered as the paradigm for the creation of the man-made in the first place.� Just as the primitive man was influenced in his architecture by nature and the way it interacted with it, their structures are precedents for architectural structures built after them. We continually see history reflected in buildings of today and therefore, nature as well.
There is also the paradigm of the universe as a whole for the built environment. In the past, and probably still today, people have constructed their houses to somehow imitate the creation of the universe in their creation of a house/building/dwelling.
2. Evolution: There is an evolutionary aspect of architecture in that we continually build off of what has been built prior. The first man had no buildings to base their structures off of. Instead they built off of nature’s architecture, so to speak. From then on, people continually modified these structures, molding them to better fit their needs as technology developed and their understanding of their surroundings/materials developed.
Discussion Questions:
1. How does the architecture in your surrounding environment effect you/your outlook on life? How does it affect your culture as a whole?
2. How can we, as future architects, look at past dwellings and learn from them and allow them to affect the way we design? To what extent should we let them influence us? Where should our own imagination come into play?