The Aesthetic Of Ruins On The Beauty Of Abandoned Structures Essay

How does someone find hope buried under the debris of fear, unforgiveness and unmet expectations?

By year twenty, billions of the population are deceased and all that remains now of the world are wastelands that endure the memory of bustling cities and small dispersed settlements of the few survivors. Although nothing’s the same, Mandel sheds light on the artistry and allure of the simple things. Saying, “What was lost in the collapse: almost everything, almost everyone, but there is still such beauty” (Mandel 57). Talking about the scenery from nature and the production put on by the Traveling Symphony, Mandel subtly shows how it’s in our human nature to express oneself. Although nearly the entire population of the world was wiped out, art survived and remains in everything; unavoidably associated with human life, from the natural happenings of the environment to characteristics exhibited from people.

Louis was one of the most worldwide-circulated examples of concentrated poverty and public housing failure. When Charles Jencks announced “Modern architecture died in St Louis, Missouri on July 15, 1972, at 3:32pm”, he was referring to the demolition of Pruitt-Igoe housing development, a 57 acre array of 11-stories public housing blocks, representing the death of modern architecture and its iconic failure in American public housing

What was once a beautiful but small lawn with grass is now a patch of dead grass with dirt exposing itself under the grass. What was once the creaky barn doors are completely destroyed, with broken glass on the ground on the outside, leading to the inside. What was once the living room where I had spent so much time watching television and playing games with my siblings, now has its carpet completely torn up, walls indented, and closet in complete shambles with light gleaming sharply through the holes of the closet from holes that were made by vandals who never knew the true value of the humble abode that I used to reside in. My old home, since being lived in by me and my family has since been abandoned by the family that we had entrusted the house to previously. Now the house just stays there, an eerie empty shell of what it used to be. A place where I was safe and happy, now a dark and scary place that no one deserves to live in, a place that humans have indeed used well, so well that there is nothing left of what it used to be. That image of the house was the last I saw it, back in 2010, It is possible now that the house had since been destroyed, with the memories that have been carved into the walls, fireplace, windows, closets, and bedrooms, are now nothing more but a blur of destroyed objects that will one day be removed, as people pass by the home that once was will never be able to see its clarity, but instead will only be able to see the blur of colors protruding from the exterior of the house, or perhaps the brown of the barn like doors, or the patches of green still rising from the dead grass that surrounds it, until eventually, it simply disappears completely invisible to the city that used it ever so

For many, abandoned buildings hold keys to the past. They are places frozen in time- authentic, eerie, and intriguing all in the same. Photographer and mixed media artist Samuel Quinn is one willing to break laws and trespass property in order to explore and capture these deserted wonders. In 2008, while in the South Shore driving his friend home, Quinn passed an eye-catching abandoned white house that stood lifeless in between two simple suburban homes. Two years later, in need of a new project, he traveled back to the house and began taking photographs for his portfolio A Houses Echo, which, as he describes, holds “portraits of a family who once lived in a house. A house

Postmodernism is a universal movement, present in every art and discipline. In architecture, postmodernism is precise as well as ambiguous thereby in need of an explorative pursuit for a consensus of what is meant by the movement in this perspective - between the works of Charles Jencks, a primary theorist of this architectural turn; Heinrich Klotz, a leading architectural critic; and William Curtis, an architectural historian. The progression of this paper is highly influenced with Jencks’ studies as his works are often times referenced as well by both Klotz and Curtis in their individual interpretations and further accompanied with either supporting statements or contradictions.

Using the quote by Habermas as a starting point, select up to two buildings designed in the twentieth century and examine what ‘sudden, shocking encounters’ they have encountered, or created. Analyse the building’s meanings as a demonstration of an avant-garde, or potentially arriere-garde, position.

In Wright and An alto's houses, a powerful sense of insides is generate by opacity. Which, in Falling water is express in roughly dressed stone masonry walls and, in Villa Mairea. By white-painted, solid walls. The transparency of glass windows in both houses thereby connect the two. In both houses, the architects created a strong sense of insideness yet, at the same time, devised ways to connect inside and outside and thereby create a robust continuity between the two. This inside-outside relationship can be translate into environmental and architectural experience in four different ways: (1) in-betweeness; (2) interpenetration generated by inside; (3) interpenetration generated by outside; and (4)

At the Art Institute of Chicago, there is a postmodern design show called the “Design Episodes: Form, Style, and Language”. There were three exhibits in one room included in this show. On one side of the room there was an exhibit that featured works and materials about graphic design. Another side of the room was an exhibit was about the evolution of the ‘modern’ chair, and the last side of the room was about an architectural design exhibit. I chose to write about the architectural design exhibit for this exhibit review. This particular exhibit features seventeen works done by the radical Italian group called ‘Memphis’ and the architectural firm Coop Himmelblau. It features works of postmodern furniture, ceramics, and glass and metal objects.

“Open of closed, sympathetic or imposed? Explore the push and pull of landscape within the paradigm of the room matrix pattern and the appropriation of

“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.”

This notion of a social, participatory art form can also be seen in the writing of Nicolas Bourriaud, who wrote “why wouldn’t the meaning of a work have as much to do with the use one makes of it as with the artists intentions for it.” With both social sculpture and architecture, as with physical architecture, a dialogue exists between use and structure. To a certain degree structure determines use and yet use also effects structure. Use is both constructive and destructive, it manipulates and transforms object to its needs. Contemplation - the way in which art would traditionally be experienced, is neither constructive or

In 1967, the french theorist Guy Debord, outlined his concept for a future spectacle society, whereby ….. “Quote about capital”. Presented as a treatise on the modern humman condition; Society of the Spectacle is a piece that explores the contemporary effects of power, which it seems in more recent times are becoming increasingly tied with the idea of a media and consumer society; a system based off the production and consumption of images, information and commodities. In the discourse of arhcitecture specifically, it seems Debords predictions have bled into the culture of modern design, as expressed by Anthony Vidler: “Recent proposals and debates over the architectutural devlopment of ground zero have highlighted the way in which, over the last two decades, the public role of architecture has been gradually reduced to the symbolic and the emblematic. Its forms of expresion are no longer closely tied back to urban issues and physical planning questions.” (Toward a theory of the architectural program, antohny vidler, page 1) These discussions and critiques, indeed, seem to bear out Guy Debords 1964 anticipation of an all-pervading spectacle culture where in essense, we have moved into a system of architecture overinvested in symbolic form, “where flash and bravura win out over contemplation”. (- nordic from on aestehtics and function in architecture - page 1. )

The 80’s of the last century marked an important influence by French philosophy in addition to a new framework for post-deconstruction thought to operate with, presented by Deleuze as “Le Pli” The Fold. This notion of space in architecture wasn’t as recognized as Derrida’s thought of the deconstruction of language, such as its presence in architecture, Such as in Peter Eisenman’s projects and his direct work with J. Derrida. Deleuze’s ideas on the other hand appeared through architect’s own interpretation and application into their

Centered in the house is a ramp that takes you on a journey from the underbelly of the house on the ground floor to the main body on the first floor and then on to a roof garden. Throughout the house views of the surrounding nature are framed, your mind is free marvel, as the forms evoke a sense of exploration and delight. Villa Savoye is better experienced than viewed through an image, only then can you understand the greater meaning and purpose that informs its beauty. One might argue that this is not beautiful architecture and a poor example, however upon visiting this house you cannot deny that the house is beautiful in its own right, evoking a response from the occupant. Le Corbusier’s masterpiece is moving; therefore achieving what he believed architecture to be about. This experience and the emotion that is felt can only be described in words. Shapes play a big role in the architecture but clearly the meanings behind are more important.