The Coming Circle

The Coming Full Circle

Community

            In architecture I think of sustainable communities, which are communities that are planned, modified, or built to promote sustainable living. This can pertain to environmental and economic sustainability. These communities are rapidly appearing and gaining interest in the public eye.

Stewardship

            Stewardship has many definitions but pertaining to architecture, I was looking for environmental stewardship. According to the EPA, Environmental stewardship is the responsibility for environmental quality shared by all those whose actions affect the environment. In less words it really means sustainability and to take responsibility when pertaining to the environment. And one structure that I think about locally is the Proximity Hotel, which is the only hotel with Platinum LEED certification in the country.

Authenticity

            To me it means to be original or to make a replica. But in architecture I think of architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies Van der Rohe, and Edward Lowenstein. The reason I think of these architects is because they actually created their own style of architecture and had their own principles pertaining to architecture. They had an original idea and since there ideas were known they have been replicated over the years with some changes thrown in which may have been for the worst leading us away from great design principles over the years.

Innovation

            Innovation is to come up with a new idea or in this case a new design. And I immediately think of Modernism in the 1900s because during this time we actually exercised structural preservation. Such as the Louvre renovations, Boston Public Library Expansion, and the Monticello renovations. We also started a thing called deconstructive design in which the designers wanted their design to differ from many other designs. Such as the Vietnams Veterans Memorial, Wexner Center, and Aronoff Center. In which the buildings looked as if they were falling apart.

Finally

            I felt that these terms were very vast at first but they really do relate in many ways. Stewardship to me is the term that can be applied to all of these; all of these terms require responsibility in some way. Sustainable communities definitely require a great deal of responsibility in the planning process when you consider the entire factors that are involved.