Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Coming full circle

Community We had a party for the IAR community last week and I'm sorry I missed it. I could not get in at the gate because I came alone and left my phone at home and was unable to call someone to let me in. Bummer.
One of the notable aspects of critical regional reactions to imported Euro-American Modernism was the reaffirmation of community of creating environments for groups of people living and working together in ancestral traditional ways. pp 607 Roth
As far as Interior Architectural Design goes we are coming full circle in our now global economy. The world has become a smaller place to live. A Global community your neighbor may have been born anywhere in the world and for now the house next door may look like everyone else's on the outside but the interior will be of the culture from which they came. With the high level of immigrants into America and Europe people from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and South America have a determinate influence on style of furnishings. For example people from the Middle East don't sit at a table to eat they sit in a circle on the floor. Many African countries still use their hands to eat with instead of table ware. People from Mexico and South America like to paint their homes in bright color that remind them of their homes were they came from. These are just some examples of change happening in American and European cultures. Since the 1990s with the rapid change in electronic communication and constant change in communication devices we are able to do business globally communicated with countries all at the same time. Do banking electronically. Work from home, go to school from home or even home schooling our children not attending a building except for the main home. Before 2008, the Housing market for the past forty years has been mainly healthy but now this is no longer so. The fall of the housing market has caused a financial crisis across this country and across the world. What will be the out come of this crisis with people all over losing their way of making a living.

How does this effect architectural style we are already across major cities in the US cutting back on new construction of housing and most cities are in trouble finding funding to preserve historic homes. Some cities across the US are thinking about using for housing the huge van's shipped with goods from China that stay empty in stock yards in major cities .
According environmentalist it is a good low cost living structure that stays cool in summer and due to insulation between the panels warm in winter. Use and reuse /sustainable living? I agree with Patrick in class when he mentioned stewardship. Sustainability means good stewardship of what we have in natural resources, water, soil , food, housing and building. Many store front are going empty and homes all over the country are going into foreclosure meaning empty homes. What impact will this have on the near future. Even here in Greensboro N. C. I see beautiful homes up for sale by owner due to the staggering economy. Times are a little frightening today what impact will this have on the near future for us as Designers?

Future designers will have to come up with inovated ways for housing, will we have communal homes like some in the 1960's. Will homes become smaller and close together? Will historic building be used for other purposes? Will there be a need for a School building if everyone communicates by electronic means? Who will be the new Designer to invent the best econological way to create housing that will be sustainable for 100's of years.in the future. As an older American most of us have cut down, cut back and realized that "less is more" from Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe.

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