Maya Week3: Temporary Contracts

Buildings and places have traditionally been conceived of as lasting artifacts that embody the achievements and ideals of a civilization. This article explores the themes of durability and ephemerally, beginning with questions of how is the built environment changing as a result of evolving ideas? Has durability become more valued as a hedge against the unease of rapid change? Or has it become less valued, perceived as irrelevant, nostalgic, and unnecessary (2)?

The article tends to argue the second point that buildings have become ephemeral and trivial, by using the example of the edge city effect and corporations such as Walmart that AT&T as main contributors to the development of our modern landscape. I don’t necessarily agree. All the way through reading this article I was waiting to hear the solution to our problem. Strategies to take back the streets and obtain more social control over our cities development and condition. I have yet to read one article that begins to inspire and encourage the individual to take responsibility for change in their area. Of course it is much easier to state the facts, this is what these big box stores are doing to devalue our environment and communities, but more importantly is how and why do they hold so much power to do so? Our concepts and ideas have evolved to a state where economics is being determined by the monetary cost of the production. We need to change our economics and begin to factor in the actual cost to society, global resources, communities, and cultural preservation. If our culture is now being defined upon commodities that we consume, then we will not have any cultural artifacts worth remembering. Our Walmart buildings will not stand the test of time.