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Abstract
Many, if not a majority, of the world's citizens view contemporary architecture as ineffective in accommodating the lives of everyday human beings. And yet, voluminous texts by prominent architects and the media argue just the opposite; that, in fact, flashy and expensive new projects profoundly benefit humanity. Those buildings supposedly provide continued advancement in how humans occupy the world. While there is no doubt that the built environment is instrumental to human achievement and wellbeing, what is the true value of the ill-formed, and perhaps ill-conceived, products of today's leading architects? This essay argues that the elite power structure behind high-profile architectural projects is focused more upon promoting like-minded architects, and their narrow ideological interests, than in satisfying the ordinary everyday user. In doing so, this activity irrevocably damages the environment and markedly diminishes human neuro-physiological engagement with the man-made world. The logical conclusion from this purposeful misrepresentation is that the profession deliberately manipulates both the general public and architecture students to serve its own agenda.
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Notes on contributors
Kenneth G. Masden
KENNETH G. MASDEN II
Department of Education, State of Hawaii, Honolulu, 96821 Hawaii, USA.
Kenneth G. Masden II AIA, is an NCARB certified architect with a BArch from the University of Kentucky and an MArch from Yale University – where he studied with Léon Krier, Vincent Scully, Fred Koetter, and Andrés Duany. He has extensive experience with large-scale planning projects including base relocation and land reclamation projects totaling over $4 billion for the U.S. Government, on which he has worked as project architect, environmental engineer, planner, and program manager, in Japan, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the United States. From 2001–2010 he was an Assistant/Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Before beginning his academic career he worked with Peter Eisenman. Currently the Director of Planning and Development for the Hawaii Department of Education, he manages a capital improvement budget of $300 million/year for the 7th largest public school system in the nation.
Nikos A. Salingaros
NIKOS A. SALINGAROS
Department of Mathematics, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, 78249 Texas, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
Nikos A. Salingaros (Dr) is the author of six monographs on architectural and urban design translated into six languages, and over 150 scientific papers. Dr Salingaros is a leader in developing the disciplines of Biophilia, Complexity, and Peer-to-Peer Urbanism. In Planetizen's 2009 survey, he was ranked 11th among “The Top Urban Thinkers of All Time”, and was selected by UTNE Reader in 2008 as one of the “50 Visionaries who are Changing Your World”. His most recent books are: Twelve Lectures on Architecture: Algorithmic Sustainable Design, 2010, and Unified Architectural Theory: Form, Language, Complexity. A Companion to Christopher Alexander's ‘The Phenomenon Of Life, The Nature of Order, Book 1’, 2013. He is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and is associated with the architecture faculties of several institutions around the world.