controversy

Jean Baudrillard

hello,

let’s chat Section 1 utopia

Section 3

Section 2

Controversial Architecture

1. Simulacra and Simulations 2. Utopia Deferred: Writings from the Utopia 3. The System of Objects 4. Symbolic Exchange

What is utopia?

u·to·pi·a /yo ͞oˈtōpēə/ noun imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. The word was first used in the book Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More.

“whenever an existing order is destroyed and replaced in a revolution by a utopia, the new utopia is no longer the ideal, and a new utopia is theorised and put into place. Utopia seems to be constantly chased after but never found.” Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007), philosopher

A CONTROVERSIAL PHILOSOPHER WHOSE MAIN IDEAS AND CONCEPTS HAVE BEEN USED TO UNDERSTAND THE EFFECT OF LIVING IN A POSTMODERN ENVIRONMENT ON OUR PERCEPTIONS OF REALITY. HIS MOST IMPORTANT BOOK "SIMULACRA AND SIMULATIONS" BECAME THE BASIS OF THE MATRIX FILMS

Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007)

Imagine the future

“Postmodernity is said to be a culture of fragmentary sensations, eclectic nostalgia, disposable simulacra, and promiscuous superficiality, in which the traditionally valued qualities of depth, coherence, meaning, originality, and authenticity are evacuated or dissolved amid the random swirl of empty signals.” Jean Baudrillard

The influence

The effect of Postmodernism can be extensive and can alter our perceptions of

the media and reality as the media and reality merge.

REALITY

HIGHTEN AND EXAGGERATE (SIMULATE)

SIMULACRA

HYPERREALITY

Baudrillard uses the idea of Disneyland to show simulation and simulacra, he says that Disney land is a perfect model and example of American simulation. The imaginary world that Disney has created is an illusion, a future world and has no physical reality. This pretend world is what makes it so successful it’s a miniaturized real America. There is a huge contrast between being inside the

fantasy park and the reality to get to and from it, which enhances the enjoyment you get from being in the hyper real. For example you make the long

journey to get to park in you car, you have to queue to get into the car park, you have to park and then queue again to get inside. On the other end of the spectrum you get the atmosphere and affection from the crowd. The actual

rides, shows and gadgets are there to maintain this feeling of having that many people together. Baudrillard goes on to say that Disneyland is somewhat a

replica of the United States but miniaturized and almost an unreal version. He says that Disneyland is trying to show the American values , there way of life

and that it is so good that it is like living in a fantasy, which then makes us believe that the rest of America is like living in the reality, but infact it is not

because of the hyper real and simulation. Disneyland is so far from reality that it seems like it has just been created to mask the fact reality today is no longer

real.

Was f i rs t descr ibed by the Philosopher Jean Baudrillard were he suggested that the media can n o w c r e a t e s u c h i d e a l i s t i c representations of reality that out perform actual reality. The audience is left feel ing depressed as they're own life doesn't live up to artificial reality.

hyperreality

structuralism A movement associated with the theories of Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913), who argued that the sign was made up of a ‘signifier’ (sound image) and ‘signified’ (concept). He thought that signs did not stand for things or objects and that the connection between a sign (example: the word cat) and the object in the world (the furry domestic animal) is arbitrary. Therefore the sign only functions because it is part of system of signs. The system generates the meaning (in the system we call language, it is a different sign form dog). Structuralism is interested in the way that the sign-system works and usually goes beyond the semiotic level of signs themselves to think about the ways these systems work in the world, in relation to philosophy and ideology.

Structuralist phenomenology: Baudrillard attempted to describe living experience of commodity culture via a kind of analysis afforded by structuralism.

Barthes Baudrillard - Concerned with the “objects themselves” and the discourses that surround them.

- Interested in sophisticated semiotics

-Concerned with the “objects themselves” and the discourses that surround them.

- Reading contemporary world of interior design as registering a historical shift in EDL.

semiotics The ‘science of signs’. Its approach has parallels with structuralism but essentially semiotics is the search for the logical rules or laws of signs and sign-systems, making it a more purist and formal approach.

Controversial architecture

CENTRE NATIONAL D’ART ET DE CULTURE GEORGES POMPIDOU

Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers

controversy

T h e d e s i g n o f p o m p i d o u c e n t r e breaks the rules of cultural architecture and the traditional paris architecture style. The Pompidou centre, is a “culture factory” or a “refinery” built by high tech.

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GLASS PYRAMID, PARIS Ieoh Ming Pei

controversy

The project breaks the style and consistence of the whole building and it is described as “damaging both Paris L o u v r e a n d t h e Pyramid”

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details

GALAXY SOHO, BEIJING Zaha Hadid Architects

controversy

Paramet r i c des ign builds Galaxy Soho into structure with a panoramic view. Each individual building has its own atrium and transportation hub and is naturally combined w i t h o u t c o r n e r o r a b r u p t t r a n s i t i o n , creating a continuous, fluid space.

Controversy:

The project is very much a design of the 21st century – no longer working with rigid blocks and the spaces between these blocks; but working with soft and malleable volumes which coalesce, fuse, pull apart and connect with multiple stretched bridges in order to create a world of synchronized adaptation and fluid movement within.

Controversy:

Imbalance between shape, practicality and appearance

Controversy:

The other concept of the design is inspired by the ancient Chinese terraced rice field. Derived from nature, parametric design is the synthesis of contemporary digital technology and the natural landscape. The multiple flowing plateaus act as a rice field in the mountains, connecting the various volumes, and forming an urban landscape.

DESIGNERS SET REQUIREMENTS ACCORDING TO ENGINEERING AND GEOMETRIC RELATIONSHIP. TO SATISFY THOSE REQUIREMENTS, DESIGNERS NEED TO CONSIDER INITIAL VALUES OF DIMENSION AND PARAMETERS AND MAINTAIN RELATIONSHIP WHEN CHANGING VALUES. PARAMETERS ARE CLASSIFIED INTO 2 TYPES, NAMELY VARIABLE PARAMETERS FOR DIMENSIONS, AND INVARIABLE PARAMETERS FOR GEOMETRIC INFORMATION. TO SUM UP, THE NATURE OF PARAMETRIC DESIGN IS FOR THE SYSTEM TO MAINTAIN INVARIABLE PARAMETERS WHEN VARIABLE PARAMETERS ACT.

Parametric design

LONDON BRIDGE TOWER, UK Renzo Piano

controversy

London Bridge Tower, Also known as the shard, is London’s new landmark building. The name of “shard” comes from the design of the design of the exterior wall covered by the slanting, upwards glass sheets that gradually become slim and finally become a “pyramid”. The glass sheets on top don’t touch each other, forming an open space that seems to make the building breath in the air. The 95-s tory, 310m h igh bu i ld ing redefines the London Skyline

Controversy:

High rise buildings l e a d i n g t o c i t y polution

Controversy:

Disharmony of the building form with the surroundings

METROPOL, PARASOL Jurgen Mayer H.

controversy

Las Setas, or "the Mushrooms", as it is commonly referred to among locals, simultaneously constitutes structure, facade and roof. Its genesis is contemporary, but at heart it is a baroque form for a baroque city. Mayer's parasols generate an artificial landscape that sets out to retrieve the emblematic value of architecture, placing it in a context in which the symbolic is an inherent part of social and cultural history. So why is it provoking so much criticism?

Controversy:

The project’s dimensions a n d f o r m a r e i n themselves a protest, highlighting the need to r e c o v e r t h e u r b a n meaning of words such as 'square' and 'market'

Controversy: The frame is made of wood laminate and steel joined by means of a heat-resistant glue. The Parasol is the world’s largest construction to be held together with glue, and one of the most complex ever to have been built in wood.

Controversy: M a y e r r e f e r s t o Metropol Paraasol as a “cathedral without walls”, an architectural promenade above the rooftops of Seville.

Controversy:

High cost, Time Consuming, and conflict between shape and function

the power to influence

Creativity

“Original ideas that have value” Sir Ken Robinson, Education and Creativity Specialist, author and speaker

Any Questions?