Unit Reflection Point

This unit we focused on reflections of the past and conversed about revolutions. The industrial revolution is one of extreme importance but the political revolution also impacted design in a big way. We learned that revolution consisted of several concepts that relate to how or why revolutions happen: reform, renaissance, revival, rotation, and cycle. All of these make a critical statement to the functionings of a revolution. It is all a continuous cycle; after all, a revolution is the end of a cycle and a beginning of another. This reminds me of The Lion King. If you will permit me let’s be kids for a second. I have a quote that helped me put this concept of cycle in perspective.

“Mufasa: Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope.
Young Simba: But, Dad, don't we eat the antelope?
Mufasa: Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life.”

In our design world terms, we can call it the ‘Circle of Design’. And it’s all true what Mufassa said, we just have to put it in perspective according to architecture and design. Over the years, we strive to see a certain style grow. Then we ‘eat’ that style; we want it gone, and a new style comes into play. Yet, that style that was eaten might come back and bite us. We remember then what that old style was and say to ourselves, “Huh, that was a great style, but let’s make it different; let’s make it better.” This is the same concept as well with how fashion continues to loop back around to the styles that were popular years and years ago. The -almost- identical thing is happening. There are so many connections, can you see them? Everything continues to come back around at some point or another. The thing is though, you can never conclude that exact time when it will come around again, for better or worse.

In this case, the industrial revolution was in reaction to new materials being made faster and easier which, I think, can be related back to when concrete was invented. It helped to make those arches easier and then prompted the ‘era of the dome,’ so to speak. But the main materials covered in this revolution were glass and iron. Various designs could now be made that before were just dreams. These new manufacturing inventions helped to ultimately make these structures come to pass: the Eiffel Tower, Biblioteque Genevieve, Burlington Arcade, and the Crystal Palace, among many, many more. The only limitations were how much money you had and how much space you occupied. This is actually slowly becoming the trend in architecture as we continue in time, but the people used this concept in different ways. I will talk more about this though within the next Point essay.

I think that this photo represents this unit well. Some things are reflected, but the reflection is not exactly the same. It might even be better in its own artistic form.