Way too long updated Abstract

Still roughing this out.

Monument is an evocative and artistic form of architecture tied heavily to cultural memory; architecture for the public good. The monumental built form reflects the aspirations of the time; it ranges from colossal gestures of social prosperity to a quiet remembrance of passing. Monument marks an important piece of history; a society invested a great amount of time, resources, and artistry to express itself through this built form. Monument encompasses amazing feats of design and engineering, embodiments of religious beliefs, political statements, commemorations of victories, and memorials to our dead. Monument addresses the concerns of a society, and maintains its significance through our interpretation of a society’s past.

What is today’s monumental social concern? Climate change and global warming are proving to be this generation’s paramount concern, the effects of which have the potential to halt social and industrial progress. While architecture is a leading advocate of combating global warming through technical sustainability; this intervention calls on it to deal with the bigger social issues linked to sustainability. Living sustainably is not just turning the lights off and recycling, but it is somehow reforming a consumer based society encouraged to drive large vehicles and frequent even larger super-stores. Our actions and buying habits put power in the hands of large corporations which buys them government influence. Government and industry are some of the largest perpetrators of environmental harm, leading to massive unnatural disasters such as industrial actions, toxicity, and war.

Just as small patterns of social action lead to large scale environmental harm, so too can small actions lead to positive environmental change. Educating the masses on the consequences of their actions can allow one to reflect on their life and decide whether or not they are acting towards better living for themselves and the community.

This education should be aimed towards society at every level, from dense urban populations to typical small town America. Small town America is described by such places as Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, at one time a crucial point in an American war. Currently benefitting from tourism as well as the victim of overdevelopment, this is a site capable of grabbing the attention of the both the curious tourist and the typical American family unaware or uneducated in the benefits of sustainability. The heart of this area’s leisure and educational travel is a natural monument on the Gettysburg Battlefield known as Devil’s Den. A place of natural beauty could be a site that would generate the curiousity and controversy necessary in attracting the masses to a thought provoking piece of monumental architecture. This site would provide a definitive monument amidst thousands of classically beautiful monuments devoid of emotion and impact. It would also provide the context for viewing the power of the built form amongst nature’s grandeur as well as its fragility. Locals and tourists may love it or hate it, but it would be a testament to our desire to shape nature to our liking and the positive and negative outcomes entailed.

The public is constantly tied to war, from a simple historic curiosity to funding the oil machine that drives it. It is the product of our society’s actions today as it was yesterday. Climate change is the product of today’s society as well as that of our immediate past. This architecture hopes to experientially allow the viewer to draw these conclusions and take away something that holds the power in changing society on both the small and large scale.

1/4 Jury

Last night was rough for all of us, but there was great benefit in having outsiders. I don’t think any of us were prepared to pitch our whole thesis, and we’re going to have to really focus on the meat of our ideas to distill our descriptions to a few minutes.

I really dropped the ball on my presentation, got nervous, and did a really poor job articulating my ideas and left out quite a few that might have been helpful to the outsiders. I think they generally got the idea and there was a lot of discussion from every juror; advisors and outsiders alike.

I need an effective diagram displaying my ideas. I don’t think they could easily wrap their minds around the social issues and current relevance I hope this monument to bring up. I’m hoping to allow visitors to draw conclusions from their own actions and the actions of people in power. Basically that there is a consequence to everything, and even war can be boiled down to consumerism and the general public. I’m thinking of a diagram like a March Madness bracket of ideas/consequences/effects or something like the food pyramid.

Andrew’s one juror brought up the ideas of sensory architecture, and that is a goal of mine. A site like this brings heightened awareness of the senses, and my architecture will extend this. Sensory perception is also why I did paintings as diagrams, I’ll be searching for more emotive ways of representing ideas.

The argument of whether or not to build here is something I was happy to have discussed. Some people will be offended by it, some people will be intrigued by it. In any case it will generate discussion and controversy that will get the gears turning in visitors’ heads. My hope for thought provoking architecture will benefit from a sacred site like this. I will not back away from “you should not build here.” This is part of the attraction and crucial to the effectiveness of the project.

Some things to work on:

Abstract/script to read from/memorize for the ½ way jury. I really need to be concise and clear and not stumble on my words like last night.

Ideas/chain of actions diagram

Determining best way to approach site, continue partis through drawing and model