5 theses, Assignment Posts

5 THESES: ANDREW BARNETT, CHRISTOPHER SCALZO, JUSTIN CHEN

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THESIS 1:
The dawn of the second major era of urbanization and gentrification has led to unsustainable cities with population growth only surpassed by that of their associated problems related to; insufficient infrastructure, housing bubbles, and municipal neglect.
SOURCES:
Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How it Can Renew America – Thomas Friedman (Farrar, Strauss, and Giraux, New York, NY, 2008)
New Globalism, New Urbanism: Gentrification as Global Urban Strategy – Neil Smith
The Chaos and Complexity of Gentrification – R.A. Beauregard
(In Gentrification of the City, 1986)
The Death and Life of Great American Cities – Jane Jacobs (Random House, New York, NY, 1961)
The Unsustainable City – Andrew Blowers & Kathy Pain
(In Unruly Cities, Edit. Chris Brook, Gerry Mooney, Steve Pile)
Unsustainable Cities, a Tragedy of Urban Infrastructure – Tomaz Ponce Dentinho
THESIS 2:
The advent of convention centers full of the latest ‘green technology’ at the fingertips of architects across the globe has numbed their sensibility towards the time-tested architectural solutions to problems that otherwise require a veritable rats-nest of systems coordination to solve.
SOURCES:
Architect Frank Gehry Talks LEED and the Future of Green Building – Abby Leonard
Critics Say LEED Program Doesn Fullfill It’s Promises – Franklyn Cater
Green Architecture – James Wines (Taschen, Cologne, Germany, 2000)
Green Architecture in India: Combining Modern Technology with Traditional Methods – Raj Jadhav
Traditional Architecture Offers a Strong Foundation for Green Building – Leon Kaye
Why Green Architecture Hardle Ever Deserves the Name – Micahel Mmhaffy & Nikos Salingaros
THESIS 3:

Despite criticism for a lack of zeitgeist and “cheapness”, temporary architecture is both a socially and economically sound solution.

SOURCES:

Biklen, Noah K, Ameet N. Hiremath, and Hannah H. Purdy. Temporary Architecture. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2003. Print.

Burkhardt Leitner Constructiv GmbH. Temporary Architecture: Burkhardt Leitner : Global Network. Stuttgart: Burkhardt Leitner Constructiv, 2011. Print.

Chabrowe, Barbara. On The Significance of Temporary Architecture. The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd. Vol. 116, No. 856 (Jul., 1974), pp. 384-388+391. Print.

Jodidio, Philip. Temporary Architecture Now! =: Temporäre Architektur Heute! = L’architecture Éphémère D’aujourd’hui!Cologne: Taschen, 2011. Print.

Lombardo, Grazia. Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture. 6.1 (Jan 2012): 53. Print.

Melis, Liesbeth. Parasite Paradise: A Manifesto for Temporary Architecture and Flexible Urbanism. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers/SKOR, 2003. Print.

 

THESIS 4:

Despite being the seat of government, Washington, D.C, by its planning and design, is the most European-like of all American cities.

SOURCES:

Braunfels, Wolfgang. Urban Design in Western Europe: Regime and Architecture, 900-1900. Chicago: U of Chicago, 1988. Print.

Gosling, David, and Maria-Cristina Gosling. The Evolution of American Urban Design: A Chronological Anthology. London: Wiley-Academy, 2003. Print.

“Original Plan of Washington, D.C. (Imagination): American Treasures of the Library of Congress.” Original Plan of Washington, D.C. (Imagination): American Treasures of the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2015.

Southworth, Michael, and Peter L. Owens. The Evolving Metropolis: Studies of Community, Neighborhood and Street Form at the Urban Edge. Berkeley, CA: U of California at Berkeley, Institute of Urban and Regional Development, 1992. Print.

“The 1901 Plan for Washington D.C.” The 1901 Plan for Washington D.C.University of Virginia, n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2015.

United States Park Service. “The L’Enfant and McMillian Plans.” National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2015.

 

THESIS 5:

Cuban architecture largely remains stagnant under a stale, socialist order, unable to escape the aesthetics of its Colonial-baroque past, and modernize into the 21st century.

SOURCES:

Carley, Rachel. Cuba: 400 Years of Architectural Heritage. New York: Whitney Library of Design, 1997. Print.

Carranza, Luis E., Fernando Luiz Lara, and Jorge Francisco Liernur. Modern Architecture in Latin America: Art, Technology, and Utopia. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Connors, Michael W., Néstor Martí, and Ricardo Porro. Havana Modern: 20th-century Architecture and Interiors. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Obregon, Jessica. Cuba: Architecture and the Social Order. Digital image.Surface.syr.edu. Syracuse University, Dec. 2014. Web. Sept. 2015.

“The Architectural League of New York | The Architecture of the Cuban Revolution.” The Architectural League of New York | The Architecture of the Cuban Revolution. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2015.

“Tour the Architecture of Cuba Through Early 1900s Photos.” Curbed National. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2015.

 

One thought on “5 THESES: ANDREW BARNETT, CHRISTOPHER SCALZO, JUSTIN CHEN”

  1. Thesis 1 is quite wordy- you want to make your main point and your position on that point as clear as possible. Also, this topic is too broad to be adequately argued/discussed in a 1500 word paper. A more viable scope would be to discuss one issue that you think is making one city less sustainable than it could be. The same is true for thesis 2; it is unclear what your are arguing for- is this thesis about convention centers, sustainability, or technology? Maybe you are trying to say that building systems have become so advanced that architects no longer know how to employ time-tested, passive design strategies? Make sure that your thesis focuses on one major idea that can be argued. The third thesis is much better- this could be a very interesting paper. Consider looking at specific examples of temporary architecture. Thesis 4 would be difficult to argue because (whether or not this is true) it reads as a fact. If you want to make an argument, consider saying “The European style planning and design of Washington D.C. does not reflect the ideals of the U.S. government.”. Even this thesis may be difficult to defend because of the questionable meaning of “ideals”. Again, thesis 5 seems more like a fact than a position on an idea. Who would disagree with you?

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