The Architecture of Suburban America

This thesis is concerned with images and objects of architecture. Today, the advent of "modernism" and the progress of science give rise to nihilism and extreme functionalism. As the result of such trends, architects have tried to find the ways with which they can continue to work without the type of "Aim" which traditional architects sought. Some forms of high-tech architecture and deconstructionist architecture were the result of an attempt to overcome "the death of architecture". However, although they thought images and values were already dead, we still cannot deny there are, in our living environment, countless images and values which strongly influence our life styles. For example, today's strongest culture, commercialism, is using images and icons as if laughing at those who declared "the death of images and values". Even some contemporary philosophers, like Jean Baudrillard, argue everything is the result of images: "Simualtion". Thus, it seems irresponsible, as architects creating our living environments, just to deny images and values. Also, as architects, we cannot abandon the study about objects by accepting Baudrillard's position. Thus, I will investigate, in this thesis, how objects are related to images and how values are created from such relations. I expect that this investigation will show that what has changed is just the ways of making images and values and the ways that images and values influence our lives. It will, finally, show images and values will never disappear as long as human culture exists. Suburban America provides good material to study such a thesis because, although it has a comparatively simple organization, it exhibits complex contemporary phenomena.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Architecture

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Architecture

Department dc:contributor.department

Architecture

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Park, Sung-Yong

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Schnoedt, Heinrich

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• O'Brien, Michael J.
• Gartner, Howard Scott

• Collage in Architecture

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-07262006-133412

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/34188