Concrete Foundations?

I thought the presentation on technology was done wonderfully. As far as how the presentation looked, it was very clean, the slides were appeasing to the eye and it was done wonderfully. Also, every comment made in the last recitation was taken into consideration when they were making their slides: the amount of text on the slides was reduced which made it much easier to read. It was great being able to see it on the screen versus on the computer. Since they were the first group, it was also fun to watch (and a little nerve wracking!) what was going to happen for each of our presentations.

The presentation was about Somalia and technology. They talked about leap-frogging technology and another country that was involved in it. I thought this was a really interesting concept and one I have never heard of before. I'm really glad they talked about the other country because otherwise the concept of leapfrogging would become difficult to grasp or believe possible. Specifically talking about the elections was also smart. It shows the "necessity" a country has for technology. They would need proper elections. They need to be informed about who's running. They need to keep track of the ballots. That was a great example about how leap-frogging helped that country specifically. They talked about what they could potentially bring into Somalia, such as cell phones and computers, specifically the hole in the wall computers that would learning experiences for children. They also brought up the organization One Laptop per Child, which is an absolutely incredible organization that brings laptops to children around the world for $100. They brought in an example of a laptop which I thought was brilliant and which they said they were going to do before. Ozayr seemed to enjoy the computer just as much in the front row! Finally, they ended with how Somalia could construct the energy sources into their own country. I was very glad that they added this information because I believe it is one thing to create a plan, it is a whole different thing to implement it. Adding this information at the end really showed that they thought more about just bringing the technology to Solamia, but also thought about how Somalia would be able to start it and keep moving forward. Overall, I thought it was a very good presentation. I was impressed! Good job guys!

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Architecture has been influenced over the years by technology in several ways. It has been influenced with the way that a project is created. It has influenced the way that a building is built, from the materials it uses to the
systems that are installed. It has changed the styles of the buildings. It has changed even the dynamics of the interior space of the building. In the end, the role of the architect has changed dramatically from being a monumental designer to a multi-talented computer-aided designer. Even knowledge and communication has changed in the form of what resources we now have access to and with whom we communicate with directly. Technology has left nothing in the field of architecture untouched. It can even be deliberated that the mind and creativity of the designer is drastically shaped by the influences produced by technology.

The design of architecture has been changed the most for architects. No longer are they constrained to t-squares and a calculator. Now the work is typically done on the computer. David Newton showed a lot of these technologies via computer including ANTSIS (keeps track of wind changes), performance testing, CAD, etc. Instead of making models, we are now using 3-D printers.

Construction of the building has also changed dramatically. The building once was built with limited materials. The revolution of the industrialization time allowed building to be built higher and faster than ever before. The art created on the building was now reshaped from being carved with the builders chizel to the drawing board of the architect. Architects now had more control over the ornamentation of the building they are building in the way that a design for a simple ornamentation piece can either be bought or produced much easier than creating that same ornamentation in stone. Progression in heating, cooling, water, plumbing, and electrical also made changes in the buildings plan. Suddenly the building needed a greater understanding of air flow, lighting, wind, etc. for the architect to build it properly.

There is also the construction of the materials which has changed. Now there are processes which can make very fine cuts in materials for detailed work. There are even robotic used for stacking materials. Transportation has also made it much easier for the movement of large pieces of material such as steel, lumber or concrete. There are also ways now to cut extremely hard materials with diamond tipped tools and lasers, etc. We now also have the ability to mass produce practically any item we desire, so we can create larger, taller, and faster than ever before.

Architects now have access to resources far beyond the resources they had available to them before. The internet has created access to any resource written and published over the World Wide Web. Architecture ideas in Paris, Greece, Germany, and more are now just a few keystrokes away. In addition, there are a wide expanse of options available now for contacting people. Cell phones to call anywhere and anytime, fax machines for paperwork, e-mail for instant letters, text messaging for instant short messages and even Walkie Talkie features on cell phones for speakerphone correspondence.

In the end, the roles for architects have changed because of all the technological changes. Close to everything has changed from manual to machine, from the drawing, to the production of the materials, to the transportation of all the equipment and materials, to the building of the building, and ultimately to the systems that would run in the home. All these new and complex changes have made it difficult, if not impossible, for architects to keep up with all the ways a building can be built. Frank Lloyd Wright was a strong believer in not only creating the art, but understanding the tool with which your creating the art. The amount of tools that we now have at our disposal makes it extremely difficult to get a thorough understanding of each one. Also, the rate at which products and homes can be produced makes a shorter timeline for the architect. This makes the roles architects play in the building process limited. The creativity of the architect could have changed also. The talents he or she was born will always be imbedded in the person, but their application in addition to their learning have the potential to shape those talents talents into a more refined architect, contributing to the needs for architecture for today and going beyond the standards the field may have created.

So, ultimately, technology may be looked at as either a good or a bad thing. Good because more options are available with materials. There are also more options available regarding the building of a home. An architect also has more options for design available. The cons on the other hand deal with the inability to understand all the tools and how they work, the limited roles an architect can play in regards to building the building and the lack of hand made artistic influence in the building is extremely limited if not gone because of technologies role. We cannot go back and change technology, we can only use it's influence to enhance our artistic approach to what we create.

I believe the question in the end comes down to "What can technology do to undo the mess we have created?" In the field of architecture now, I believe more than ever that we have to be extremely careful of not just what we build, but how it will impact our environment over time. The buildings, homes, bridges created during the industrial age and newer productions such as airplanes, cars, skyscrapers, etc all have a lifeline. Where did the 35W bridge go after it's collapse and where will the other mass produced houses be left when there walls start to decay? How can we build in an environment where architecture has been created for different purposes such as comfort, travel, defense, and escape? How can we use what has been left behind instead of mass producing more immediate comforts and adding to these aging buildings?

Here's one more technology idea for you then....I think there will be a camera that can take pictures and automatically identify measurements of whatever it is taking a picture of. We can then input that data into our program and use that piece of material however we please in the building we are creating. We will be collaborating our programs with the processes of building. Errors can then be detected before ever reaching the builders. Memory will expand and computers will get smaller and we will have more information than ever before at our fingertips.

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Last week, there was nothing much to write about. No one came in the room and no one left except for me. It's almost sad when days like that happen. It reminds me of what that high schooler from the week before that said, "if you guys come here and they don't even pay you, you would think there would be more people that would want to get help. It's sad that they don't come." I agree. This week no one showed up either, but there was an incident in the school that sparked my interest. Actually, a couple. A teacher walked in with two students. He said they needed to get some tutoring, but they looked like that wasn't the case at all. After the teacher left, they sat there for a couple minutes. They said they only had to finish a couple questions. At that point one of them mentioned a need for "a book". They both got up and left. No big issue there. A little while later there was a large noise outside of the room we were in. Something definately fell, but me and the other tutor in the room paid no attention to it. Loud noises were not unusual to the school. A minute or so later a teacher came out of the room behind us to investigate. She walked out the front door and a couple seconds later walked back in and said,"they just turned over a table." It wasn't what she said specifically, but how she said it that was amazing. She might as well have said, "He's eating an orange." Later on, the other tutor found out that whoever turned over the coffee table also went to floor above and knocked over other items and slashed holes in the water jugs. It turned out to be a real mess. I feel for the people that go to school there, as students and staff. I hope that eventually there conditions will improve.

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This monday the tutoring was, um, not there due to re-testing that the kids were going through. So the one other tutor and I were able to get some homework and chatting time in. About an hour into this vista, one of the high school boys came in. He asked us what we do, he told us a little about himself, we talked about cafeteria food and all that good stuff...or maybe not so good in that case. Then he asked about what I was taking up in college and what classes I had. I explained a few of them and then decided to tell him about one class that had this very in depth and serious theme running through it. Even the name of the class explained its intensity. I told him the name of the class, my senior class, called "Workers and Consumers in the Global Economy." He stared at me for a couple seconds and then proclaimed a "wooow." I said, "I know. Sounds intense, but it's actually a really interesting class. We basically learn about how industrialization has impacted our society and how classes have been seperated due to impact." I explained ways on how it affects other countries as well and a couple other in depth ideas they have given us and then I looked over at him. His eyes were wide open, not half shut as I was expecting. He not only took in everything I said, but then he responded right afterwards with his own views on globalization and technology and how he thinks it will impact the country in the future! I was astounded at this point. Here is a senior level class that I'm taking at the University of Minnesota, and he understood everything I said perfectly. There were lots of other things we discussed also relating to our society, but I was so happy to have met him and happy to know what future generations will bring to our schools.

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My volunteer day on Monday was less entertaining than a couple weeks previous. It was the first day that I successfully made it there and back without transportation issues though. That was a feat and a half. I was able to help with one math problem though which we all concluded should've been waaay more complex than it actually was (We had three of us working on it and it was as simple as adding up two different sides and then dividing it by two). I still remember the problem too, but I'll spare you! So all the tutors argued over how it should've really been solved, up to the point of calculus and then settled on the fact that the book didn't know what it was doing and that problem probably wasn't going to be on the test. But we did end up showing the student the "proper" way of doing it in the end so she wasn't totally confused. I didn't see my student from the week before. I was a little disappointed. I was hoping to see her again. She was doing great! The other student in there was making remarkable progress also. I was very impressed. She passed the practice exam, found out where her lowest scores were and was on the way to changing that. I'm excited to see her pass the test.
The week before....I rode the bus out there...walked a half mile in the snow....arrived there, only to find out that I forgot they had spring break! Wow! I was so glad I had this weeks bus ride down, you have noooo idea.

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Technopoly
Neil Postman

Keyword 1: Advancement.
He spoke of how culture has advanced from the basic tool making culture to the more technologically advanced culture. I thought it was interesting that he looked at the basic tool making culture as almost a pure culture up until the stirrups were made and yet he made the argument previously that anything created has pros and cons to it. I also thought it was interesting that he thought that new technology was at "war" with old technology like television with printing, photograph with painting, etc. To me, it rather seems like they have simply displaced the old technology and forced it to create a new way to reveal itself. I can think of very few technologies that have been conquered or killed off totally that his word "war" symbolically seems to portray.

Keyword 2: Truth.
The first time Postman brought up truth was when he said, "Technologies change what we mean by "knowing" and "truth". He dedicates the last few pages towards the revolution of the church and the truths the philophers of the past have presented. Meriam-Webster provides the definition of truth as "a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true." It is interesting to think that our perceived "truth" hinges around what has been proven in the past and what surrounds us in the present.

Discussion Question: Postman said that technology could be a danger in that it could alter our memory. One way he mentioned was that technology would require us to remember new words and would also modify old words. In what other ways could technology interfere with our learning? How can we compensate or can we compensate for these difficulties that it causes?

Discussion Question: Postman also said that technology forms a "kind of conspiracy against those who have no access to the specialized knowledge made available by the technology." How does this affect countries where economy prohibits them from accessing technology? How does it affect behaviors between each other? Between their state or country? Between other countries? How would accessing technology change their situation?

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Title page example 1

Title page example 2

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I went into the school to find out for the first time what I was supposed to do. Orientation was finished and I really didn't know what to expect next. I stepped into the room looking for my supervisor only to be greeted by three other volunteers. I watched two of them teach a couple of the students and then I stepped out only to find out that my supervisor was now there. I went back, looked at the book, glanced curiously over their shoulders for a little bit and I finally got up the nerve to ask if it was okay to join...after they asked me twice first. Yeah, I know, I'm kinda bashful at first. Then I saw what they were doing! That was the end of my bashfulness. It was so much fun to help teach what I absolutely love. I learned also how difficult it is to teach things like rounding. How do you explain that? The girl I was teaching (I sooo wish I could remember her name, I feel horrible for it, but she's really sweet) picks up on what is taught really quick. In the end, I know she'll have no problem on the test. I'm amazed at what she can do. I hope more people will continue to come. It's such a pleasure getting to know them. The most interesting part of being there in the end is actually the transportation. So far I've gotten one ticket for being parked illegally the first day (I swore there were no signs and there were a ton of other cars in the same area until I came out that is) and some guy decided try and "start a conversation" with me while I was on the bus the second day. Hopefully the third will be easier! I wouldn't trade it for the world though. And I'm definately relearning bits and pieces too. Remeber scientific notation? How about the circumference of a circle?

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Article #16
Biomimicry
Janine Benyus
Keyword: Adaption
Nature has a profound way of being able to adapt to its surrounding for its survival. This was shown in the intricate way that the mollusk was able to create a new shell, the way the spider used it silk to attract mates and food, and the way the mussel was able to use its arm to connect to a surface and uses the tide to feed.

Keyword: Imperfection
Despite man’s effort to duplicate nature’s chemistry, it can often come to a dismal ending such as that of the mussel. It shows that even our extensive knowledge sometimes just can never replicate the natural abilities of nature.

Discussion Question: Paul Calvert told the author, “Nature loathes fasteners-instead it blends gradients so that the fiber has no single vulnerable point.” It seems as though we, as human in this day and age, love the opposite. How can we draw from nature’s love for gradients in what we build?

Discussion Question: After all the effort that was put into finding an adhesive from the mussels, they said all they got was a “brownish flocculent [a wooly mass at the bottom of the beaker]” and “in the meantime, a group in Massachusetts…is simply chopping up mussels foot and selling the purified protein”. If all this effort ended up with the actual product just being used, what use can nature actually be to us in the use of its prototype?

Article #17
Nature’s Numbers
Ian Stewart
Keyword: Pattern
It’s amazing the number of patterns that are seen in nature. Patterns were presented numerous times in this article, from the 6 planet theory to the number of petals on a flower.

Keyword: Strategy
In the same way that pattern is found in nature, it seems that strategy must also be placed. Even if two worlds were created and organized in a systematic way, they also must be cohesively placed so that one cannot run into the other’s path. It’s amazing how coordinated nature is in addition to it’s perfect patterns.

Discussion Question: Architecture deals primarily with what Stewart calls “Fractals” or “geometric shapes that repeat their structures on finer scales”. How can architecture also deal with “Chaos” or the “apparent randomness whose origins are entirely deterministic”?

Discussion Question: Stewart says, “talking of ripples, the flow of fluids provides an inexhaustible supply of nature’s patterns. There are waves of many different kinds-“ and then he goes on to describe those. In Mr. Polomer on a beach, it was said, “”each wave is different from another wave, even if not immediately adjacent or successive; in other words, there are some forms and sequences that are repeated, though irregularly distributed in space and time”. Based on these two texts, what is the waves relationship to fractals and chaos?

Article #18
Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics
Timothy Ferris
Keyword: Loneliness
This was a keyword for me because the author had one of his focuses on the life of a mathematician. When he spoke of a mathematicians life, he spoke of it in a way that indirectly and directly pointed out this word. One indirect example is when he spoke of the mathematicians getting together. He said they had no specific things to talk about, but they instead went on to talk about a series of various things. He also directly spoke of it claiming that “the insanity and suicide levels among mathematicians are probably the highest in a professions” because they have no choice but to “turn inward”.

Keyword: Unchangeable
This also applied to the professors and mathematicians. He spoke of the inability for mathematicians to be able to function in any field besides being a professor or a serious mathematician. It’s almost like the laws of math and change are applied also to those who understand mathematics: It can only be added upon, but not changed.

Discussion Question: My immediate thought upon reading this article was how does this apply to us? How does the principle of being a mathematician and being limited in what they are able to do apply? How do their gifts and lack of recognition for them apply?

Discussion Question: What can we do to make a person with strong mathematical abilities be more of value? In the field of architecture? What do you think they need to be successful?

Posted by swalv001 at 03:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was able to meet with Takara, my supervisor, for the first time today and wow was I amazed at what I heard. I am so glad that I am able to work with this organization and it is my hope that the students feel comfortable enough with me to be able to approach me when they need help for tutoring. I wish I could go on to describe what I heard about the school, but I do not wish to do so. I will describe the school though. From what I understood, it is not even actually a school. The center of the building is the stairwell and elevator. On the lower level, drawings of portrats done by a student line the wall on the way to the cafeteria, which also serves as the library/dance hall. The books were all donated by others to their school. The second floor has the tutoring area, a computer lab and in a seperate room the printing lab. There are two classrooms at the end of the hall. The third floor consisted of more classrooms which I saw through a black gate which seperated them from the exit. Folders were displayed outside the gate where students put their work at the end of the day. I don't know what the gates intentions were. I might be able to find out later. In the end, my focus is the students and their progress in passing the tests they need to pass. Takara was excited to hear that I had a deep interest in mathematics and I was excited to see that the questions they had, I actually understood and remembered. I can't wait to get started with this opportunity. I can't wait to get to know the students one on one and help them to pass this test that is so necessary to pass. I only wish that I could do more.

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I am forming a protest. My blog may be the only blog that you may see that does this, but I believe that it is necessary. When I received the news last week that we were going to the direction of thought of the blogs, I was appalled. It makes sense that we have an immense amount of work. It seems to make sense to combine two to limit the amount of work that we have to do, but let me assure you, this does not limit the amount of work that we have. This is my first point. As the example with this blog about presentations: the amount of time, effort and dedication to this blog would be the same. This would not change. Its benefits would lie with the presentation itself, limiting the need to figure out how to present the material. Keep in mind also, we are working in groups. The more options we have, the more we have to discuss.

My second point is my primary point though. It is what is being taken away from us that can have the largest effect. The blogs are not merely a homework assignment, they are an open-ended way for us to search in greater depth into the issues that surround us and ourselves. I have yet to see an assignment handed out from a teacher that reads: Find an architectural issue and relate it to who you are and relate this also to who you want to become. The only unfortunate thing about education is the lack of this open-endedness and self-direction. It can hinder creativity to the degree that as a person, you may not know what you are capable of contributing. If it is done properly however, creativity will not be enhanced, but it can me merely channeled into a specific project that is being worked on. In this case though, unless the person has done introspective work in the past, their full potential may not be fulfilled.

The blogs create a way for us to find out our potential. Saarinen says, “[Form] conveys its inner meaning with finer vibration and deeper expressiveness than can the spoken tongue.” When we are given these assignments then, we first have to think about it (which is sometimes difficult as the student expressed when he spoke of his brain exploding), think about how this relates to us and then find a way to verbalize what we have learned. I have learned that Saarinen is telling the truth when he states that often what I see and what I learn sometimes cannot be put down in written text, but I carry it with me. One example being my trip to Minneapolis to take those pictures. I remember the moment of stepping off the lightrail and being overwhelmed by the blanket of skyscrapers around me. A man approached me to ask if a building was open and that somehow lead into a short discussion about the beauty of that great city. The first picture I took was of the mayor and the buildings reflected behind him. “Form must be born in closest contact with the intimacy of life.” The blogs have truly helped me understand myself to a greater degree: What draws me (the skyscrapers, nature Blog 4,5), What perplexes me (the separated society with the urban environment, Blog 2), What envelopes me (the space surrounding me and how I see it, Blog 5), and how not to create a blog (Blog 1).

Within the confines of the blog page and the undiscovered world of the blog, I can truly understand an unmeasured depth about myself and therefore understand the impact I have as a designer. For truly, “increasing sensitiveness to these mysteries by means of intuition, instinct, and imagination, is the essential thing in the search of form.”

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Search for Form
Saarinen

Keyword 1: Art. This was the key component to this piece. Although he highlighted form as his central definition, it seemed as though his emphasis was placed upon creating artistic form and how that has been seen through history rather than form itself.

Keyword 2: Intention: This came to mind because it seemed as though the artist needed to have specific intensions in order to achieve what he considered art. If those intentions were spiritually driven, then “art” would be created. If, on the other hand, the “artist” had the intention to simply duplicate history, another piece or simply erect a structure without the use of creativity, then “art” would be divulged from its form.

Discussion Question: Saarinen states that, “form is something which is in man, which grows when man grows, and which declines when man declines.” What arguments can you make from examples in past history of prime examples of form that support or decline this argument.

Discussion Question: Saarinen also said, ”increasing sensitiveness to these mysteries (of nature) by means of intuition, instinct, and imagination, is the essential thing in the search for form.” What do you think he means by this? How do you think this can be accomplished?

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The Web of Life
Capra

Keyword 1: Grounding. Capra really brought the feeling of pushing us to ground ourselves again and finding a way to resolve issues that may stand in our way of achieving our true deep ecology.
Keyword 2: Law. I like this word because it seems to me like he is almost trying to oppose the laws that most of us rely upon. Two examples are physics and changing our thoughts by changing morals.

Discussion Question: How does shallow ecology and deep ecology pertain to Crowe’s view of mobile versus immobile dwelling?

Discussion Question: How would integrating Capra’s Integrative thinking and values in our society benefit or hinder it?

Geometry and the Primacy of Dwelling
Crowe

Keyword 1: Interaction- In one of the lectures we had, the professor spoke of two components that make up interaction with architecture: individual domain and the physical realm. This article seemed to pinpoint both of those properties.
Keyword 2: Construction- He also seemed to want to emphasize how the house was created. The nature of the material is what would determine the width and height of the walls, the shape of the roof would determine the rain drainage, etc.

Discussion Question: Crowe gave three examples of primitive houses: the tropical house, the Hogan house and the igloo. He told us about their environments and how they adapted to them. If we were to build a primitive house in Minnesota, what primary environmental characteristics would we need to keep in mind and how would we translate those into a primitive house?

Discussion Question: How does Laugier’s primitive hut represent his surroundings? How are his views similar or different from Crowe’s?

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I am equally intrigued by nature and architecture alike. For me to separate the two is too difficult. Therefore, after a lot of thought, I have determined that the two spectacles that awe me the most are also the ones that have the greatest impact on who I am: the city of Minneapolis and Minnehaha Falls. Both have the ability to stop me dead in my tracks when I lay my eyes upon them. In order to understand this “phenomena” a little more (this definition in relationship to myself and my environment, the moment I see it, and the impact it has on me), I decided to go to Minneapolis myself and photograph the moments that take my breath away. This is what I came up with.

Frameworks:

Clockworks:

Minneapolis Phenomena:

Minneapolis Opposition:

Minnehaha Falls Frameworks:

It seems as though nature itself is more clockworks than frameworks, and creations of man becomes more frameworks. It's hard to picture a leaf without picturing it's movement unless it has been placed inside a vase of somekind as an ornament to a rose. For this reason, I kept the Minnhaha frameworks as what man created in Minnehaha's company. The first picture is of the bridge that my brother and I used to climb. Probably not safe, I know, but still a ton of fun! I loved it's symmetry.

Minnehaha Falls Clockworks:

Minnehaha Falls Phenomena:

Minnehaha Falls Oppositions:

This is a photograph taken from behind Minnehaha Falls by a local Photographer. There are two oppositions present. One is the opposition of light. It is night-time and their is still light coming from the front of the falls. The second opposition comes from the stillness of the "falls".

I took these pictures last year. I went for a hike with a group and was boasting about the falls and how beautiful they were. Little did I know they weren't there! I came back the next day to take these pictures of the drought and what had happened to the falls. It was absolutely horrific to see the devastation the drought caused to the area. Phenomena can not only be a wonderful and beautiful thing, it can cause the human heart to drop to unknown depths. Fish were trapped in the little water left to the area, people had vanished, for the first time, I could actually walk down the river and hear the echo of the rocks on all sides of the lifeless, gutless bank. It's almost like I could feel the areas torment with each echoed and shallow step of rock beneath my feet.

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Architecture as Space
Bruno Zevi

Keyword 1: Space. This article re-establishes the idea of space and what it means in architecture. He spoke of the dimensions and how they are typically interpreted when an architect shows his building to the client. He then goes on to tell how architecture should also be interpreted.

Keyword 2: Composition. I interpreted balance from the article in the following way: When art is applied to architecture, it no longer is a building composed of an exterior and interior with a floor, ceiling, and four walls, it then becomes a three-dimensional painting where the viewer can see the dimensions change with the elapse of time. If correct composition is not employed, the viewer cannot follow the natural transitions in the project and a (what looks like) perfectly established two-dimensional plan and drawing will then be ruined.

Discussion Question: Zevi says that "whenever a complete experience of space is to be realized, we must be included, we must feel ourselves part and measure of the architural organism." If this is the case, what is the best way for our clients to understand the space of their unbuilt project?

Discussion Question: Zevi claims that space is the "protagonist of architecture." What does he mean by this?

Nature and the Idea of a Man-Made World
Norman Crowe

Keyword 1: Environment: This is what the article seemed to be primarily about. It aimed to interpret how architecture includes the natural environment around it.

Keyword 2: Contrast. This word came to mind because the architecture he was talking about that created a proper balance with it had a certain amount of contrast. As with photography, too much or too little contrast creates an improper balance in the picture and this is what Crowe seems to emphasize also. Living in the environment only, such as the jungle people, creates problems. Living with the environment overtaken also creates the same. It is a matter of including and contrasting both.

Discussion Question: Crowe discusses the primative people and says they "live closer to the natural world and are beter than we are at seeing their presence as integral with nature." He goes on to say that "we are envious of the respect they hold for the natural world." What would our environment be like if we lived primatively again? How does the order we make with our architecture help or inhibit us in this way?

Discussion Question: Crowe talks about the differences between the Villa Savoye and Fallingwater. He says that both illuminated the "ideals but also the ambiguities that are inherent in the conscious determination of "a correct balance" of human intervention in relation to nature". If a client were to ask for a home that had nature included in it, how would you clarify what they wanted?

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