Modern Architecture And Its Impact On The Environment

There are 25 major specialties in engineering that are recognized by professional societies. In any one of those 25 specialties, the goal of the engineer is the same. The goal is to be able to come up with a cost effective design that aids people in the tasks they face each day. Whether it be the coffee machine in the morning or the roads and highways we travel, or even the cars we travel in, it was all an idea that started with an engineer. Someone engineered each idea to make it the best solution to a problem. Even though engineer 's goals are similar, there are many different things that engineers do within their selected field of engineering. This paper will focus on the architectural field of engineering.

Climate, one of the most defining characteristics, causes us to think of unique ways to live in extremes and some of these ideas are expressed in the architecture of our houses or even cities.

The history of Architecture started long time ago. The nomadic were groups of people whom move from one place to another in order find shelter and food to survive. As they progress, their techniques to survive evolve. The need for a permanent shelter became vital for a better stability of the group. This is the time when the first structures that provided protection appeared. Post and lintel were the first forms of Architecture, that satisficed the basic needs. Architecture evolved to be more sophisticated and fulfill the people’s needs. Consequently, Architecture evolved throughout different periods such as: Ancient architecture, Romanesque, The medieval, Renaissance, Early modern, and the industrial age, Modernism and Contemporary

Ching, Francis D., Jarzombek, Mark M., and Prakash, Vikramaditya. Global History of Architecture (2nd Edition). Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 21 October 2015.

A popular, dominating style of home in Colonial America was the “Georgian” which can be traced to the prime of Europe, the Italian Renaissance. Georgian homes as presented lay on a raised foundation and are held by multiple pilasters, which happen to be equally distributed, for another characteristic of these early homes is symmetry. When the line of symmetry is drawn or imagined, the two halves appear identical. From even further than the ground up, from the foundation above, both houses have pillars, pilasters, windows, wood, glass, chimneys and so on of uniform size and style. Even the entablature that lies above the windows and columns appear to have no variation. Within this symmetrical design, there is stability, a decrease in the possibility that the house may cave in; rather than asymmetry, which has a higher likelihood of collapse.

Throughout history we can see that housing has followed certain trends. These trends are most heavily influenced by the technology available to the public at that time. As can be seen throughout history, living conditions in general have improved, as there are more access to resources and building technologies. Although the world we live in has changed greatly, the basic type of shelter needed for everyday life and the resources needed to construct them has changed very little. This is why we can see a lot of parallels between the ways people live throughout history. However, the biggest change is in the way we construct buildings and especially housing. History has taught us that as time goes by, technology increases, making it easier for us to build structures. For example the Egyptians relied solely on Adobe (sun dried mud bricks) and slave labor for construction. Then came the development of hydraulic lime mortar, the Treadwell cranes (which is a wooden, human powered hoisting and lowering device) as well as the start of domes and arches, as structural components in architecture. Followed by the Middle Ages, which saw a huge emphasis on the construction of massive public buildings such as Cathedrals, Churches, Fortifications

Australia is one of the continents over the world. The vast, varied land and the culture in this abundant place has a deep and lasting impact to the architectural design traditions—Tectonic. Tectonic can be regarded as one distinctive characteristic which is relating to building or architectural construction. It also gives ability for people to read a structure, or see how a structure was put together. Among those architects who had used this tradition in their designs, Donovan Hill and Glenn Murcutt, as Australian architectures, have their own style relates to tectonic. For example, Donovan Hill composes different materials and layered against with one another in D House, while Murcutt establishes a harmonious connection to the surrounding landscape and local climate with Magney House.

Prehistoric humans quickly learned to build shelters that would protect them from rain, snow and other elements of nature. Early roof designs were simple and were often little more than branches placed atop a frame; such shelters were intended for temporary use, so not a lot of effort went into the construction. However, as humans began to embrace permanent agricultural settlements, they began to develop architectural styles that were typically dependent on the local climate and available materials. Many of the roofing materials and styles in use today can be traced back over the centuries.

Features that appear to be typical for terrace houses came as a result of different chapters in building acts and also appear for the two case studies we will be examining in the next chapters. In order to describe just a few main defining characteristics and details

Modernist architecture applies to a group of styles that emerged early in the 20th century and continued as a dominant architectural style well into the 1960s.

     The Traditional Chinese houses have many differences in comparison with the North American houses. The building materials used in construction is the most distinct difference from North American’s. A typical Chinese farmhouse is built of sun-dried bricks or pounded earth, because wood is too expensive and scarce to use. On the other hand, many typical Northern American houses are built of wood. In addition to the variations of building materials used in constriction, the architectural planning of a traditional Chinese houses is also unique. A traditional Chinese house is built according to the “Court-yard System'; where by houses are built around a courtyard which is invisible to the outside. Windows are covered by a thin oiled paper which is also invisible in order to protect robbery and keep privacy. Nowadays, the traditional housing system seldom appears in Hong Kong because it is too expensive and may cost millions of dollars. Moreover, the housing in Hong Kong is usually apartments and skyscrapers which is different from the ancient China.

“Human houses should not be like boxes, blazing in the sun, nor should we outrage the Machine by trying to make dwelling places too complementary to Machinery. Any building for humane purposes should be an elemental, sympathetic feature of the ground, complementary to its nature-environment, belonging by kinship to the terrain.”

Vernacular building is a typology which results from a direct response to regional context (Murphy 2011). While contemporary Australian architecture

Throughout my day trip to Chicago, Illinois as part of American Experience, there was one question that behind my experiences that guided my thoughts: “What does modern architecture mean?” It is a simple question to ask, but a much more difficult question to answer. After all, we hardly even recognize the styles behind the buildings we see and use everyday, let alone what those styles represent. However, after careful study of some of best examples of American architectural style, the answer to that question becomes very clear.

is thus defined largely by variable contexts. To create architecture, in response to atmosphere, the building must situate itself within context, taking a position on the physical environment and intensifying how the inhabitant perceives and thus responds to that context. Hence, the question posed in the title of this chapter; Or more specifically;