tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post392319717141429855..comments2024-03-29T03:45:01.236-07:00Comments on TalkToYoUniverse: Architecture: how it reflects history and cultureJuliette Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-60920615347409859272010-09-08T02:18:52.238-07:002010-09-08T02:18:52.238-07:00One of the things that has struck me about archite...One of the things that has struck me about architecture around the world is the interconnectedness of several different issues. For example, structures are frequently made out of the materials at hand. The US and Canada have abundant timber resources, which has allowed many residential buildings (whether individual homes or apartment complexes) to be made out of wood, whereas virtually all homes in Korea and Singapore today are made out of concrete. There is not enough wood in these countries to satisfy modern housing demand. (Although, ironically, up through a couple decades ago, wooden homes were much more prevalent in Singapore with the <i>kampong</i>-style houses; these were wooden houses on stilts that cooled the house from underneath. My wife lived in that type of house when she was a child.) <br /><br />Available land is another issue; urban density in Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong is very high. What is known as "landed property" here is extremely expensive because the land itself is in short supply for <i>any</i> type of building. Most landed property here looks like townhouse complexes (two or three story structures that share common walls), and yet the prices for such homes are well over a million dollars each. (Some apartments and condominiums are getting near that range as well.) As a result, housing for the majority of the population tends to be in enormous towers of apartments. (Singapore apartment blocks tend to be 10-25 stories tall; I saw some blocks in Korea that must have been 40-50 stories tall, and I hear that Hong Kong has blocks that are of a similar height.)<br /><br />A consequence of the building materials is that emergency services like fire departments vary in size and need. In the US, because homes and apartment complexes are wooden structures, fire is a greater risk. Fire departments tend to be larger there than in Asia, and the trucks are larger there as well. Here, fire departments are not as busy. Fires, when there are any, only consume interior furnishings as the shell of the structure remains. I used to pass by one Korean fire department building on the way to work every day and I never saw any activity there in the entire year I lived there. In Singapore, the fire departments are slightly more busy, but the large fire trucks so common in the US are rare here. Instead, Singapore often uses a smaller vehicle, somewhat like an open air humvee, called a <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fa/Image329.jpg" rel="nofollow">Red Rhino</a>.<br /><br />Anyway, my point is that in focusing on any world building, whether architecture or washing machines and dryers ;) , related issues are often affected by the choices made, sometimes in ways that may not be apparent at first.JDsghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04735390644321868222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-87108510475514188042010-09-07T21:47:56.290-07:002010-09-07T21:47:56.290-07:00No problem, Shannon - I'm glad I could be of h...No problem, Shannon - I'm glad I could be of help!Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-46743318755671924142010-09-07T19:39:16.528-07:002010-09-07T19:39:16.528-07:00That is actually a really, really good point. Fun...That is actually a really, really good point. Funnily enough, I've obeyed this more in my rustic setting, Rosentia Island, then in the urban port city - which is more than a little silly. This'll help me make my port city seem all the more realistic. Thanks!Shannonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00456068019298922261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-18745395384703475972010-09-07T16:42:08.831-07:002010-09-07T16:42:08.831-07:001. A place where people build structures that coul...1. A place where people build structures that could potentially be permanent, but where some historical event has destroyed all structures over a certain age.<br /><br />I saw that when I went to Darwin a few years ago. There was a building with a sign designating it as "historic", even though it was only built in the 1960s. That puzzled me for a moment, until I remembered that Christmas Day 1974 was when Cyclone Tracy destroyed pretty much the entire city. So there, anything pre-Cyclone IS historic.<br /><br />P.S. Just Googled Tracy to get the facts right. Found a photo of three steel girders that are set like some surreal sculpture in the grounds of Casuarina College. They look like pretzels. The "sculptor" was Tracy.David Marshallnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-56752714788836876832010-09-07T14:22:41.689-07:002010-09-07T14:22:41.689-07:00My friend Angie suggested the following link, whic...My friend Angie suggested the following link, which has information about city planner Daniel Burnham - you may find it interesting. http://www.pbs.org/make-no-little-plans/Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-59875514638405813152010-09-07T10:40:45.420-07:002010-09-07T10:40:45.420-07:00Gary, thanks for your comment! I agree that makin...Gary, thanks for your comment! I agree that making up architecture from scratch can be a daunting task. I'm glad you can make it work for you in your work in other genres.Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-32491752930958986662010-09-06T23:50:41.122-07:002010-09-06T23:50:41.122-07:00In my SF stories I positively avoid architecture (...In my SF stories I positively avoid architecture (I seem to become a cliché magnet). In my contemporary thrillers, I love to make the City / Town and it's buildings one of the main characters - easy, of course, because I can look at / hear / smell them.<br />Fascinating post - really made me think. Ta.Gary Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02283560376212654045noreply@blogger.com