About the present
“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”
― Lewis Carroll
I am an explorer. I constantly change the cities and the countries I am living in, I cannot stay in
one place, I need more cultures/knowledge/experience/jobs/people. I have lived in 4
countries and visited more. There is literally no place which is my “home” (even though I have
some property I have never lived/worked there). Am I a global person? Is there any expectation
about the environment and a certain understanding of a comfortable environment? - yes.
Even without this extreme example everybody nowadays travels and is constantly connected
and see the world through their phones.
one place, I need more cultures/knowledge/experience/jobs/people. I have lived in 4
countries and visited more. There is literally no place which is my “home” (even though I have
some property I have never lived/worked there). Am I a global person? Is there any expectation
about the environment and a certain understanding of a comfortable environment? - yes.
Even without this extreme example everybody nowadays travels and is constantly connected
and see the world through their phones.
But how can architecture and city environment reply to the requests of these type of users,
should it? Does that mean that the world is on the way to become “one big shopping mall”?
Maybe. The mechanism is required by the contemporary economy and is already there and is
used similarly in different countries/cities and on different users - "Starbucks" is an example -
foot court similar in every city.
should it? Does that mean that the world is on the way to become “one big shopping mall”?
Maybe. The mechanism is required by the contemporary economy and is already there and is
used similarly in different countries/cities and on different users - "Starbucks" is an example -
foot court similar in every city.
But contemporary natural globalization (due to the technologies and mobility) does not mean
the disappearance of the identities (even though "Starbucks" attitude is, globalism and "new
modernism" under the mask of new urbanism "local businesses" values). On contrary, it creates
a new level of understanding and working with the identities and local features. It is just a new
language, a new set of tools, not a unifying force. Any contemporary researcher of Internet
folklore would confirm that. Contemporary millennial culture is built on the importance of
identity due to global access to all possible identities. Contemporary Jane Jacobs probably
would write about these new ways cities and human connections are activated.
the disappearance of the identities (even though "Starbucks" attitude is, globalism and "new
modernism" under the mask of new urbanism "local businesses" values). On contrary, it creates
a new level of understanding and working with the identities and local features. It is just a new
language, a new set of tools, not a unifying force. Any contemporary researcher of Internet
folklore would confirm that. Contemporary millennial culture is built on the importance of
identity due to global access to all possible identities. Contemporary Jane Jacobs probably
would write about these new ways cities and human connections are activated.
Total attention to a context is a way the designers are working with the environment nowadays,
avoiding relying on styles or traditions. Is that Metamodernism?
avoiding relying on styles or traditions. Is that Metamodernism?
Starbucks - Global Icon Series Mugs
I think you make a really good point by saying that globalization doesn't need to negate individual identity. Nowadays we are more and more asked to "give up" our identity to "become one", one world, one society, one entity. Don't get me wrong, I don't think globalization is bad but I do not like it when it doesn't respect local people and cultures and assumes everyone is just the same. We even had a speaker last year literally telling us to fight for our individual rights but to give up our right for privacy in order to live as a commune. I thought that was completely outrageous and contradictory.
ReplyDeleteI think that rejecting individual identities is wrong. Cultures, places and people are as rich in the way they are because of decades of history. To not work with that, to me is not only over simplifying but disrespectful. In my mind, architecture should be one of the key factors on how we design and build our world while respecting individual identities. Critical Regionalism, in my mind, in a way is trying to do so.
yes, agree. And it is up to the architects to pay attention and look for new ways to embrace identity (which is also flexible).
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