The reading of last week is like a introduction, and this week we get some more details. From the paper written by Funmihiko Maki, he states that people should not follow the compulsion which to use the technology “full”. His idea is to use technology as a tool which benefits civilized human being. We need to use our wisdom and the productivity to build a city which full of understanding the relationships. Not like the situation in “Overwatch”, we need to keep human beings a higher level of creature comparing to technology, to make a “city of tomorrow” more efficient, convenient, and beautiful.
In his article, we can also see his understanding of scale operation. In “Japan Architect”, the author states that both long term cycles such as dams and subway system and short term like human beings are both very important to a city building. My understanding is to see a modern city a biosphere, with equilibrium and efficient life.
From Maki’s idea, topography is very important. And from my previous paragraph, the topographical things will be considered as a long term cycle. Not like Mr. Corbusier’s idea of tabula rasa, we need to build cities or architectures related to the topography. This is a long term cycle to make the city equivalent for all creatures. We cannot build the same building on a flat space as we build on a mountain. Also in the Charter of Athens, we can see the use of topography is very important.
In Charter of Athens, the author states :“Psychological and biological constants are influenced by the environment: its geographic and topographic situation as well as its economic and political situation.” So not only for topography, political situation and economy is also very important part. From the article “Criteria for Mass Housing”, Family element is also an important thing related to buildings. So as a result, building is not only relate to its structure, but all the things to make it close to human life and make people lives better.
Maki, Fumihiko. Investigations in Collective Form. St. Louis: Washington University, 1964.
Smithson, Allison, and Peter Smithson. Criteria for Mass Housing, 1957.
Le Corbusier. “A Contemporary City of Three Million Inhabitants.” Essay. In The City of To-Morrow: and Its Planning, 1947.
Congress Internationaux d’Architecture moderne (CIAM), La Charte d’Athenes or The Athens Charter, 1933. Trans J.Tyrwhitt. Paris, France: The Library of the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, 1946.