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The Importance of Local Spirit and Sense
of Place: Side Effects of the Underestimation in the Modernist Town Planning
-- Ettore Maria Mazzola
Do the spirit and the sense of place influence the quality of life of inhabitants?
Is it possible to find any relationship between the reactionary behavior of inhabitants of the so-called
French banlieuse and the lack of sense of place? The social-architectural evolution of those quarters, developed
in Rome by the Institute for Social Housing at the beginning of the
20th century, gives us possible answers to
the problems of cities nowadays and the improvement in the quality of life. The quarters, built for the
working classes, are considered as the best examples of urban-architectural composition of the
20th century. The real estate market valued houses, like the historical center, and the inhabitants are extremely proud of
their neighborhoods, differently from what is happening in more recent times.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
A Buddhist-Systems Paradigm
for Conserving Cultural Built Heritage
Development of a Conceptual Framework
for Conserving Non-Secular Monuments
in South and Southeast Asia
-- Jamie MacKee
This paper presents the development of an alternative paradigm for the conservation of non-secular
monuments in South and Southeast Asia. The proposed paradigm and supporting conceptual framework are based on
the synergies between Buddhism and the systems theory. The purpose of the adoption of Buddhism is based on
the need to find a culturally sensitive holistic and organic approach as opposed to the rationalist
materialist approach of the current Euro-centric approaches. The differences in approaches to the conservation
of monuments between the East and the West have been discussed widely amongst conservationists, with
the development of a number of guidelines to deal with the issue. The use of systems theory, while being based
on established synergies with Buddhism, provides a structured foundation to build the conceptual
framework. The proposed alternative paradigm and conceptual framework are based on three Buddhist principles
of interconnectedness, interdependence and mutual conditioning.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Aesthetic Pleasure of Indian Rasas in Inlay Designs of Mughal Architecture of Agra
-- Pooja Sharma, Ila Gupta and P Jha
This paper traces the aesthetic pleasure (Indian rasas) in Mughal architecture of Agra with specific
reference to Red Fort, Akbar's tomb, Itmad-ud-Daulah, Buland Darwaza and the Taj Mahal, using inlay designs as
a source. The study highlights that the inlay designs are not flat, lifeless stone lines and colors, but they
have Indian rasas and bhavas. The various designs and design elements used in the monuments have
different Indian rasas, which can be felt through these inlay designs. Visually, many of the motifs can be read
as decorative patterns, but at source, their meanings are quite distinct. These designs are not merely a source
of decoration, but also have rasas when we see them deeply. The study finds six predominant rasas (aesthetic pleasure or anandanubhuti) in the Mughal architecture of Agra: adbhuta, veera, shringar, shanta, karuna and raudra rasas. Artisans have presented inlay designs with standardized techniques and skills and are capable
of offering the most abstract forms into concrete and real forms that can evoke rasas in the spectators.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Trauma and Tradition in Architecture
-- Bill Thompson
We begin by considering the concept of reality as that which joins all creatures great and small and
yet separates them in time and space. We have learnt to become linked in space by ideas and models that are
more or less perfect and linked in time by the joined up writing that brings with it the inherent dangers of
being both true and false. Unfortunately, we have not yet learnt enough about ourselves to understand
apperception, as participation in more than reality keeps us alive so that we unwisely extend our understanding
of apperception to keep alive the traditions built upon lies and partial truths, so that from time to time the
lies become exposed and a traumatic change occurs to end or reshape a tradition. In a secular world,
these traditions alter the appearance of rules and regulations that convert the mundane world into specific
social domain of the identity to which the unambiguous and the unequivocal can belong. A global society
allows the same transformations of the mundane to be played with a very much richer palette than any
single tradition clinging on to one identity of some kind or another, however ancient, popular, and exclusive;
the reality of space is that of a mundane existence and sharing is not part of tradition. This paper describes
how the architectural project is probably the most spectacular example of the changes we need to make by
thinking about tradition as a global desire for the development of comfort and the removal of suffering rather than
as some misguided specification of ancient origins or popular opinion that forces us to convert the
mundane into spectacular, instead of allowing ourselves, the very special creatures, to live mundane lives free of
pain and discomfort.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Non-Parametric and Parametric-Based
Computer-Aided Geometric Modeling: An Overview
-- Runddy D Ramilo
Computer-Aided Design (CAD) geometric modeling has been used in architecture for several decades.
From its simple beginning, it has now become mature and powerful. This paper presents the basic methodologies
of geometric modeling supporting the latest CAD applications, an overview of the basic theoretical
foundations of CAD modeling and how the forms and geometries can be topologically and parametrically modeled. It
also covers an overview of parametric (generative) design tools that are being used in architecture.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
An Argument for Digital Media in Practice
and Ephemeral Generative Potential
-- Sarah Benton
This paper reviews the debate for and against the role of digital media in architectural designing.
The architectural design community continues to remain polarized between the two camps. However,
the arguments experienced through practice and which are presented in available literature are not
unwarranted. It is suggested that they tend to undermine the sophistication of a contemporary architectural designer
and distract from the more pertinent issue of how to advance design creativity. This review of the main
argument will form the foreground for exploring opportunities in this paper, and in future academic research, for
the integration of digital media in the early stages of designing, in particular the generative uses of digital
media employed for creative potential. This paper draws conclusions through practice-based research
that demonstrate that aspects such as spatiality and formation can be extended through digital media.
Furthermore, computational explorations that are coupled with looser, more ephemeral approaches can result in
digital media integrations that do not impede creativity or conventional design processes.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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