Timely/timeless : temporality and perpetuity in architecture

In modern consumer culture where history and tradition are mere footnotes to the insatiable obsession for instant gratification, much of today's architecture profession has maintained its philosophy around past glory and heroism. Many of us continue to approach architecture with the conviction for the enduring qualities of our craft while dismissing the ephemeral but most valuable attributes emanating from the popular trends. At a time when even the "avant-garde" -- once symbolizing the revolutionary social and economic efforts through art -- has come to mean cozy peddling of the exclusive few's whims, a non-exhaustive sequence of momentary trends is all that is left to inform the architecture for the rest of us. I propose architecture that can be more culturally relevant and less hypocritical about its connection to that same culture. I have designed an entertainment center for a television station to illustrate this thesis.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

1999

Author dc:creator

• Lee, Chris Y. J., 1972-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ellen Dunham-Jones.

• Architecture.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/68352

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/68352