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 The Dichotomous Relationship between Technology, Architecture and its Cultural Significance through Time and Space. The role of the Architect and The Modernity of Architectural Colonization

 

Warehouse

Space flight enables a vision of the world which is no longer bound to earthly experience, and in securing this new viewpoint, technology is no longer directed towards humanity´ s ongoing engagement with the world, but towards the dream of escaping the human condition itself”.  Graham Macphee


Historically, technological breakthroughs have marked different eras and have helped humanity thrive, deteriorate, destroy, start wars, impose rule of law and fundamentally change the way we live our lives. Technology, and its advancements through history has many times embedded an anagram quality to it. Its shifting precedence, and constantly transforming nature of technology depending on human needs, political ambitions and ideological inclinations has led technology to be used for simultaneously various opposing values. As the Roman aqueducts and their invention changed the course of an entire era not only in ancient Rome but many other civilizations, at the same time these structures were used to establish political connections and enhance Roman influence in politics, architecture, design and style in other parts of the world. 


The technological inventions and developments that have marked different eras of time with critical relevancy have positioned and influenced cultural phenomenon’s that define the world we live in today. Societies historically have shown great capacity to assimilate and adapt to the changes that technology asserts continuously. This phenomenon reflects the dynamics of a complex relationship between technology, societal change, personal and collective identity, architecture and ecology. While technological breakthroughs and innovations in architecture that occurred in the past have reinvigorated our present and future and have permanently changed life quality and expectancies, these breakthroughs and innovations often are unequally and unfairly dispersed among global societies. Simultaneously these technological breakthroughs have been often used as tools for destruction, of exercising political dominance, imposing ideological agendas and asserting total domination and control over societies. The detracting advantages of technology and its influence in architecture have critically transformed the role of the architect and architecture in our societies. This aspect of architecture and its relationship with technology has taken precedence in contemporary times. Architecture is still used to address political agendas, ideologies, control users and assert rule of law, however, now this is often done in a secretive manner which raises stronger concerns around ethical implications of the contemporary usage of technologies and certain strategies such as, surveillance, video camera tracking, mobility tracking, body temperature tracking, emotional state, architectural aesthetics, material choice, style, form and much more. 


When drawing parallel of how technology informed Albert Spear`s classical and nazi architecture from the urban planning of the great square of Berlin, with the detailed design of the street lamps on the Berlin East-West axis, and his relationship with power, shows how the manipulation of spatial and urban forms has profound political implications in the control of mobility and visibility and in the deployment of violence. The political intricacies and bodily disposition of the affective dimensions of monumental, war and nazi architecture in fact take precedence in the most distinctive tools of contemporary capitalism which include all aspects of architecture such as typologies, material choice, aesthetics and style. Few typologies extend from skyscrapers, high tech shopping malls, prisons, to bunkers, schools and various digitally enhanced facilities. 


By thoroughly investigating the relationship between technology, architecture and their effect on culture, throughout time and history, this study will aim to reflect upon how technology has shaped architecture and the role of the architect in relation to the culture as such. Furthermore, the trans-disciplinary method of architecture and its implication on the evolution of the global architectural colonization has significant cultural, regional and local architectural and societal consequences which this research will thoroughly investigate. In addition, this research will conduct a systematic analysis on the anthropological implications of the trans/multi-disciplinary relationship between architecture and technology in contemporary society.   

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