Luke Ivers undergraduate portfolio
University of Idaho
Luke Ivers
University of Idaho College of Art and Architecture Department of Architecture & Interior Design 313 S Main St. Apt. 334 Moscow, Idaho 83843
iver1290@vandals.uidaho.edu 208.596.8360
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contents design work
Art & design Works
Aquatic Center
Fire Station 5
Courtyard Housing
Municipal Courthouse
Arboretum Pavilion
Kinetic Shelter
Living City Challenge
Daylighting Analysis Redesign
Recent Paper excerpt
Physical Models
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Aquatic Center Semester: Spring 10’ Course: Design IV Duration: 6 Weeks Professor: Phillip Mead site: Moscow, Idaho Project Description Design an aquatic center that contains both competition pools and leisure pools. The building has to accomadate for public and private needs. The site is located right off campus creating high pedestrian and vehicular circulation. The main focus of the project is to express the structure of the building through the design
Project Solution
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The combination of a competition pool and a leisure pool required a separation of public and private spaces. The building was programatically arranged by placing the users and staff on the north and east sides, and the public/spectators on the south/west side. This allowed for clear circulation, while also alleviating sanitary concerns. The structure of the building was inspired by looking at the phenomena of cross currents in water. The structure attempted to express the dynamics and fluid like characteristics of water when in motion.
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public/private
the program is arranged around public and private spaces to separate users from spectators
passive design An opening is created to allow prevailing winds and natural circulation during the summer months
structural design A shell like translucent structure is placed on top for necessary functionality of the pool
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FLOOR
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3RD FLOOR
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sun Light shelves are integrated into the structure in order to block direct sunlight and remove glare that can be potentially hazardous in aquatic centers. Additionally, it’s used to diffuse the sunlight into the space for passive daylighting.
wind
Proper ventilation is important for a healthy aquatic center. The design takes advantage of prevailing winds during the summer through cross ventilation.
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Aquatic CenterModel
Fire Station 5 Semester: Spring 10’ Course: Design IV Duration: 7 Weeks Professor: Phillip Mead Site: Boise, Idaho Project Description This was the 40th annual I.C.M.A competition. The project asked to design a fire station using cmu blocks in a creative manner while maintating to site, building, and program restrictions.
Project Solution It’s vital for Fire Stations to operate efficiently. Thus circulation needs to operate with clarity and simplicity. The program was stacked around the apparatus bay allowing circulation to run between every room and apparatus bay to ensure quick response time. The buildings program was compacted and stacked vertically to limit buildings footprint on the site, and to create a building typology that better fit in an urban environment.
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site Fire Fighters Fire fighting demands one to be physically fit and mentally focused at all times which makes good health vital Teenagers The skatepark is primarily used by teens and urban hipsters which lies underneath the overpass. An extention of the park can be incorporated into the fire station to improve the public space. Family Although the site lies primarily in a commercial/industrial part of Boise, there is a growing mixed residential living several blocks away that will be affected by the development of the firestation Indiginous Vegetation The site is almost entirely covered in impervious surfaces. With the implementation of indiginous plants and vegetation, it can help in the reduction of “heat island� effect and treat storm water run off. Wild Life There is currently hardly any wildlife that exists on the site. Through the implementation of green space, it can provide habitation for some wild life which can help in sustaining a more balanced eco system.
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unit pavers
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overflow drain
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crushed gravel
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perforated pipe
curb w/ drain slots rain garden planting w/ indigenious veg
mulch layer
existing site conditions
soil layer
washed rock
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redesign
building The design started with a simple rectangular block. The block actsprotective as a protective shell for the fire fighters. The program is shell contained into the box in order to increase density and limit the The block acts as a protective shell for the fire fightbuildings footprint. ers. The program is contained into the box in order to increase density and limit the buildings footprint.
private/public
A large hole is punched out of the block which creates a large circulation void. The void becomes the apparatus which separates the large public hole is punched out of the void block becomes creating a the central space privateA and program. The large void which separates the private and public in the building. This allows for a more efficient circulation and program. This allows for a more efficient circulaquick access to the apparatus bay from all the other spaces. The tion and quick access to the apparatus bay from all apparatus bay runs north/south in order to limit impervious the other spaces. human circulation surfaces on site.
storm water treatment
Blocks are extruded out to accomodate for the program size Blocks are extruded out to accomodate for the prorequirements. This creates opportunities for exterior green gram size requirements creating green roof gardens. spaces. Green roofs aresystems incorporated reduce “heat island� Storm water collection are used toto collect affect.andStorm water systems used to collect and store rain watercollection which can then be used are to wash the fire trucks. store rain water which can then be used for non potable purposes such as washing trucks, toilets, and washing machines. vehical circulation
passive design
Glazing is used in the voids to get natural light into the building, The large voids become openings for passive daywhichlighting. reduces for artificial lighting and unnecThe the void dependency also works as a large shading deessaryvices energy The voids during consumption. the over heating period. Directbecome gain sys- large over hangs tem along with large thermal mass can also reduce which blocks direct sunlight in the summer when it isn’t desiremechanical heating during the under heated period. able. In the winter the building can be passively heated when geo exchange exposed to direct sunlight
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1st floor
alley
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S. 16th Street
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lobby/reception area support staff area dispatch center training room bathrooms apparatus bays fire truck area emergency vehicle area turn-out gear turn-out gear prep rm radio/pager room breathing air room mechanical shop flammable mat storage general mechanical rm training tower park bio-swale retention pond old fire station walls
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2nd floor 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
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offices support staff area conference room storage bathrooms tower equip storage exterior porch fitness room
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FLOOR 29
3rd floor 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
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patio/exterior dining green roof game room kitchen dining room bathroom + showers tower equip storage fitness room balcony
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MAIN FLOOR PLAN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
green roof shading device scupper light shelf operable windows triple pane glass (heat trap) heat transferred through wall earth cooling tubes park retention pond bio swale structural detail bio swale detail
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West Front Street
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FLOOR 33 33
4th floor 32 33 34 35
1/25”=1’
day room bathrooms + showers dorm rooms laundry room
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cmu running bond 11 8x8x16 min 2 hour fire rating 2 4x8x16 cmu running bond 2 3 bond beam 4 4 4” minimum air space 5 2” rigid foam insulation 5 steel reinforcement in 6 vertical 6 grouted cells.
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ladder type horizontal reinforcement
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3’x10’ double pane glass window wood trim Marine plywood with semi-gloss finish precast concrete slab Anderson gliding door w/ dual-pane insulating tempered glass
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fume barrier - Kawneer 1600 series curtain wall w/ transclucent glass steel I-beam wide flange
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training tower
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Courtyard Housing Semester: Fall 09’ Course: Design III Duration: 5 weeks Professor: Matt Brehm Site: Portland, Oregon Project Description Many low income housing projects in the last century have been unable to create life enhancing places to live, which hav resulted into slums or abandoned and destroyed. The aim of this project is to design a courtyard housing complex that can allow for a mix of multi income and multi family living.
Project Solution The main idea is to create shared spaces to limit reduntant and unused spaces. This is done by allowing the non private spaces to be shared by other tenants. Areas such as kitchens, laundry rooms, outside dining can offer benefits to both neighbors through cutting down rent and energy costs while still accomadating for appropriate privacy needs such as bedrooms and bathrooms.
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public/private
public: placed along street and sidewalk Private: placed in the back to create a buffer
shared space
Voids are created by subtracting space from the mass. These become inbetween spaces that are shared by neighbors
interaction space Circulation in the courtyard is arranged in a manner that overlaps into others spaces creating moments of interaction with neighbors.
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summer Overhang acts as a shading device for the courtyard blocking direct sun light during the overheating period.
night flush colling green roof detail
winter The void emits direct sunlight during underheated period providing direct gain on thermal mass in the courtyard.
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1ST FLOOR
2ND
FLOOR
3RD
FLOOR
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Municipal Courthouse Semester: Fall 09’ Course: Design III Duration: 5 Weeks Professor: Matt Brehm Site: Moscow, Idaho Project Description This project was a competition hosted by Kawneer. The competition asked for creative use of their products, using primarily curtain walls and shading devices.
Project Solution Rather than just looking at creative uses of curtain walls and shading devices, I was more interested in the psychological affects space had on people, and how form and spatial organization of a building affects one’s mood and decisions in a courtcase. The idea was to create a triangle courtroom in effort to limit the hierarchy established in tradition rectangular courtrooms where the judge is elevated and the focal point in the room, while the defendent is placed off to the side. The intent of the design is to put all parties on equal spatial planes.
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public/private
public: placed along Main street and pedestrian circulation Private: placed in the back and along the upper floors.
balance
courtroom design is based on the concept of balance of powers and tripartite organization of Judge, Jury, and defendant
circulation
Three main corridors are formed around the parameter of the courtroom to increase efficiency and flow of traffic. Each corridor is blocked to public access to ensure privacy and safety.
courtroom
courtroom is placed in the center. The triangular courtroom removes the hierarchy and focus of the judge that is given in a tradition courtroom.
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Scale was an important factor in the initial site analysis. The average building height in Mowscows mainstreet are about two stories. The initial intent was to respect Moscow identity by designing it to fit in within the appropriate scale, and to avoid brutalists tendencies inherited many government building. The triangular shaped site played a role in defining the form and the spatial organization. This then lead to the idea of triangular courtrooms in the center of the building.
process models
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1ST
FLOOR
light wells
kawneer louvre system
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cooling towers
2ND
FLOOR
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balance space
Arboretum Pavilion Semester: Fall 09’ Course: Design III Duration: 3 weeks Professor: Matt Brehm Site: Boise, Idaho Project Description The Aboretum is a stunningly beautiful place on the University of Idaho’s campus. Many people use it for walks, recreation, and picnics. The purpose of the project is to create a pavilion that can better the experience of the arboretum through architectural form.
Project Solution The initial design was based on the idea of a tree fort, which was inspired by the vertical trunks of the trees on the site. A tree fort can offer an experience with nature that isn’t possible on ground level. The design of the pavilion is also inspired by the paths in Japanese Gardens. It considers the movement though the space and attempts to frame views of the scenery during specific moments.
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Kinetic Shelter Semester: Spring 2011 Course: Design VI Duration: 3 weeks Professor: Roman Montoto Site: San Francisco, California Project Description Union Square is a dynamic and successful public plaza in downtown San Francisco. The main focus of the project is to create a “kinetic shelter” that can transform and adapt in order to accomadate various programs for public use and pleasure.
Project Solution Inspired by the ideas of the “Situationists”, the design attempts to create spaces that can continually be changed and altered to a myriad of different spaces bringing continual interest to the people that inhabit it. The shelter can be easily rearranged to accomodate for the needs of users through the use of the track system that is based on an x,y grid which allows the individual components of the shelter to move independently.
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gateway
performance
adaptability
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Concept Models
potential energy
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kinetic transformation
materiality
spatial form
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Coeur d ‘Alene
after the Reign 2035 Semester: Fall 10’ Course: Design V Duration: 13 weeks Professor: Randy Teal Site: Coeur d’Alene, Idaho group: Molly Culbertson, Rob Buesan
Project Description The competition asks to design an exisiting city in 2035. Our project proposes a scenario in which world oil production peaks resulting in gas prices at $7. The project imagines the impact of even a modest increase in the cost of fuel and the repercussions it might have on the built environment and the way we live within it.
Project Solution
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Without gas, one will have to discover a new way to live in the suburb. High gas prices acts as a mechanism for change, which forces the community to respond creatively, without resorting to and depending on imported resources and technology. The focus is to look at sustainability from the social and communal aspects rather than technological innovation. In essence, the project attempts to envision a suburb where people come together as a community and readapt existing infrastructures, homes, and, materials and resources in effort to create more life enhancing and enjoyable place to live.
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renewable energy energy consumption oil
CDA 2035 peak oil
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2010
Peak Oil *You are Here
2015
2010
2020
Certain suburbs densify while others begin to decline and are abandoned. Business’s, industry, multi-family housing begin to flourish in the more dense suburbs. Abandoned houses and materials are salvaged and reused in construction of new building being erected in sub/ag areas.
Cost of living increases from high oil prices, in response people begin to produce goods on their own in the first signs of SubAg development and communual change. Neighbors begin to work with each other in effort to increase food production and share resources.
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Automobiles become reused for alternative purposes other than transportation. Horses, donkeys, mules, and reindeer emerge as alternative forms of transportation.
Local economy begins to stabilize as local business and agriculture mature. Living machines and green houses are implemented by the community in effort to further support sug/ag production.
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The abandoned suburbs become reclaimed by nature, creating natural corridors between Sub/Ag communities. Communities become self dependent, providing resources that satisfy personal needs and help in cultivating a prosperous and self sustaining community.
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infill building infill -Increase dwelling units and business’s which can help supplement income for home owners. -Additional dwellings can be use to help the elderly in exchange for living. -When teens leave home, larger families can rent the extra dwellings out to students, couples, or families.
ag + infill
increase dwelling units and business’s which can help supplement income for home owners
additional dwellings can be used to help the elderly in exchange for living When teens leave home, larger families can rent the extra dwellings out to students, couples, or families.
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mixed use buildings can be inserted in between existing units owners can deligate between the type of program and use. owners charge business owners to help supplement income
sub/ag + infill -Mixed use buildings can be inserted in between existing units. -Owners can deligate between the type of program and use. -Owners charge business owners to help supplement income. -Increases local business and production
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THOMAS
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Culdesac Market
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Museum of the Moving Image Semester: Spring 11’ Course: Studio VI Duration: 10 Weeks Professor: Roman Montoto
Project Description Museums, armatures for collective societal experience and cultural expression, present new ways of interpreting the world. They retain knowledge, preserve information and transmit ideas; they stimulate curiousity, raise awareness and create opportunities for exchange. As instruments of education and social change, museums can have a potential to shape the publics understanding of themselves in the world in which they live. The underlying intention for the design for the Museum of the Moving Image is to create spaces that go beyond serving it’s custumers and tourists, but reach to a much closer and broader crowd. The site is located in the industrial zone in San Francisco, however, it is rapidly becoming infilled with condos and highrise’s. Because it is located in a primarily industrial zone public pedestrian interaction and relies more heavily on vehicular transportation. The idea is to design a museum that can help stimulate the transbay district into a more socially dynamic environment in its local context.
Project Solution
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Because of the intensity of vehicular traffic around the site, much of the focus went into designing a building that could help medigate the problem. The design proposes a mobeus strip or figure eight configuration, which is then elavated over the street in order to provide pedestrian and vehicular circulation simultaneously. This also creates empty spaces in between the building. These spaces become hang out areas for the public. This is achieved by elevating the building of the ground in large spans; similar to how a bridge spans over a highway, but in this case, it’s aimed to help both pedestrian and vehicular circulation.
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roof
copper screens external louvres
super structure
sky bridge exterior walls
vertical circulaton
interior atrium floor
roof garden
escalator
structural columns
publice seating
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3 perforated copper screen screen
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curtain wall
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steel I-beams metal decking wood floors
copper plated louvres mechanically operable louvres
perforated copper screen screen
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curtain wall
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steel I-beams metal decking wood floors
copper plated louvres mechanically operable louvres
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section a-2 1/40”=1’
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
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2nd floor plan 1/40"=1'
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
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MOMI Model
Architectural Design Studio VI
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intermission...
Daylighting Analysis Semester: Spring 10’ Course: Environmental Ctrl. Syst. Duration: 1 Weeks Professor: Bruce Hagland Project Description
This lab assignment was to analyze an existing space and redesign in a way that can best take advantage of passive daylighting in such a way that can properly illuminate the space according to the buildings program, and reduce glare problems that it might have. The building chosen was the Prichard Art gallary. It’s current daylighting condition was inadequate for the space and suffered from glare poblems on the western wall.
Project Solution
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In the redesign, we proposed the implementation of vertical monitors lighting system along the north and sourth facade which would allow for adequate daylight throughout the space. Vertical monitors are integrated with an adjustable shutter system to close toplighting apertures for alternate lighting scenarios which are necessary in an gallary space with different exhibits.
schiller glare (yes)
ratio
Implementation of dual vertical monitors on North and South facade featuring splayed apertures increase diffuse daylighting evenly among the gallery, thus reducing glare created from the western facade. This passive design strategy reduces dependency on electric lighting, resulting in energy savings and costs.
schiller glare (no)
ratio 1.44:1
existing space low light distribution + high glare
Current Daylighting scheme
digital model before-low light distribution + high glare
digital model after-even light distribution + reduced glare
existing
Redesign daylighting scheme
redesign
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Paper excerpt Semester: Fall 09’ Course: Arch 504 | Thinking Building Duration: 5 Weeks Professor: Randy Teal UI 2010 sustainability conference
Paper Abstract The word “sustainability” presumes that humans have the power and privilege to sustain the world. Thus it implies that humans have power and control over the world or in one word, dominion. The paper seeks to discover what the meaning of dominion was in the book of Genesis, and how it has taken a new and very different meaning in the Modern age. In short, it argues that human dominion was originally a positive and freeing relationship that humans had towards the world. However, as human perception changed during specific periods in history, which has brought on a negative and oppressive relationship towards the world. This perception views the world in terms of resources for human disposal. This perception of the world results in ill treatment to natural environment
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Re-Defining Human Dominion in the Western World The threat of nuclear annihilation, the depletion, and extinction of natural resources are currently some of the many problems that exist today. If we continue to live the way we do today, it’s difficult to see a promising future. This is why it’s more important than ever to begin to think about sustainability. But what does it mean to sustain? According to Webster’s dictionary it means, “to give support or relief to.” When one speaks of “sustainability” it implies that humans are already in control, in power, or in authority of that which he is sustaining. Is this human beings role in the world; to be in authority over things? And if so, how did this come to be? Have humans always been the ruler over the earth? Does being a ruler create problems, or is there a way in where humans can rule the world and yet free it at the same time? In this paper I will argue that human domination over the world is something established in humans very early in human civilization, but what has changed today is the way in which humans perceive domination. This change in perception is due to the Western tradition of thinking; reason, which allows humans to reduce the world to merely matter in motion rather than a world of phenomena. Today, humankind, in general, behaves as consumers who devour the world resources for their own interests, and because of this, some believe that the teachings in Genesis resulted in this mode of thought, also better known as “Dominion Theory”. However, dominion explained in Genesis reveals a two-fold meaning, which is very different then how humans behave today. The Biblical account of dominion has changed from a “dominion of care” to a “dominion of greed” in the modern era. This evolution has a drastic change during the “Enlightenment” period when Christian thinking overlaps with “Enlightenment” thinking which results in new and dangerous re-definement of dominion.
Dominion in Genesis: man is the earth The word dominion in Hebrew is “radah” which also translate as “reign” . In Genesis, God assigns man with several tasks. God commands man to take care of the land while also saying to subdue it or to rule over it the same time. The words “care” and “subdue” seem
to be in conflict with each other. How can humans subdue (meaning to conquer or bring under control) the world and at the same time care for it? “To dress” derives from the Hebrew word “abad” which translates as “to work; to serve, till, enslave, keep in bondage” . This translation appears to be a much different term concerning humans dominion over the earth. God commands man “to serve” the earth. To serve means to be a “servant”, or “slave” to the earth . So how is it that humans can be both a slave and a master at the same time? What can be taken from this verse is “dominion” in this sense doesn’t mean to simply dominate or control in the way that we understand the word to mean today. Rather, it’s an oscillation between being master and slave, being bound, and being free, between giving and taking. A philosopher, Martin Heidegger brings up an issue similar to this. In his essay “Building, dwelling, thinking” he is in search of discovering how man may have lived in the past. The means of doing this for him is through language. “To dwell”, comes from the old German word bauen. This word bauen, however, also means at the same time to cherish and protect, to preserve and care for, specifically to till the soil, to cultivate the vine.” Heidegger also connects the old German word bauen to the old Saxon word, wuon, the Gothic wunian, like the old word bauen, mean to remain, to stay in a place. The Gothic wunian more specifically means to be at peace, to be brought to peace, to remain in peace. The word for peace, Friede, means the free, das Frye; and fry means preserved from harm and danger, preserved from something, safeguared. To free actually means to spare. Spare which means to remain, to stay in a place. To spare something, one must have the power, privilege, or authority to do so. If Heidegger is correct, then humans were originally given the responsibility of taking care of the earth, and thus having dominion over it. Yet, while humans have dominion, they still have the responsibility to serve and protect the earth, or in Heidegger’s words, to “preserve” or “spare” the world they are to look after.
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul” (Gen chp 2:7) The word “ground” in Genesis comes from the Hebrew word “adamah” meaning dirt, earth, or land. The name God gives to the first man is Adam. The name Adam also comes from the word “Adamah”. In short, what is being said is man originates from the ground or dirt, thus, humans are not just on the earth, but rather we are of it. What changes in the in the Christian thinking is that man becomes no longer of the earth but just one that exists in the earth. They see the purpose of the human being as that of a traveler going on to a different place. Essentially the Christian thinks that he is a journeyman that’s passing through the world and to the beyond .In their thinking, the world is flawed; corrupt, passing away, or dying. The true perfect form is heaven. The same applies to the state of man. Man is corrupt so long as he lives on the earth. But in heaven he is purified, clean, and perfect. In short, this type of thinking sounds very much Platonic. This thinking isn’t derived so much from Genesis, rather from the Plato.
Passing through the world So how did Judaic/Christian thinking get intermixed with Plato or Greek thought? The time, in which the Christian church was establishing its basic belief system, the Roman Empire was losing the secular spirit that was inspired by ancient Greek Thought. People began to lose their faith in the Roman Empire and instead turned to Christianity. But before the “Classical period” ended, one last attempt was made in the in the third century AD to reconcile Christian thinking with the “Classical”; also better known as “Neo-Platonism” . The central theme in this thought was that the people looked to a deity (God) that resided in a divine otherworld which was pure and beautiful, and the secular world was tainted and cruel.
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Neo-Platonism became highly influential in a time when early Christianity was developing its liturgy and canonizing (ruling or judging what books are to be included and excluded from the Bible) the Bible. In short, Neo-Platonism played a defining role in the development of Christian theology. Much of the Platonic/Christian thinking can be traced back to Constantine and his influence on early Christianity. Constantine, a Roman emperor, received his education at Diocletian’s court, where he learned Latin literature, Greek, and philosophy. It can be suspected that much of his thinking was also influence by Neo-Platonism, which, in effect, would have influenced Christian/Catholic theology. This can also be revealed through the changes made in the original Nicene Creed (see figure 1). The Nicene Creed, which originally developed in Nicaea, was later revised by Constantine in the 4th century to try to unify the Catholic Church under a single profession of faith. A significant change that the First Council of Constantinople makes is found on the last line which states: “we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.” The revised Creed by the First Council of Constantinople has largely influenced later creeds that are used today such as the “Apostles Creed”. Today, it’s generally accepted as being true, meaning correct interpretation of the Bible, and overall a good summary of Catholic/Christian beliefs. This Platonic/Christian thinking (man is fallen, intellect is not) carries throughout the rest of the medieval thinking on to St. Augustine to Aquinas. It continues on into the Renaissance and “Enlightenment”, however, during this period, it takes it to a whole different level.
Enlightenment: Split of faith and reason Modern science continues the Judaic-Christian belief of humans domination of the earth and the dream of a utopia. However, the prominent thinking of the Enlightenment believed it could do this through reason rather than through a God. In effect, it turns to it’s own thinking in order to discover the essential truths that would help solve all the problems in the world in hope to one day create a Utopia. But the split of faith and reason created a problem
for the “Enlightenment” thinking. This type of “rational” thinking assumed that truth is based on reason, thus further separating the distinction between man and world he lives in. This type of thinking leads to human’s strict use of science and technology to interpret the world, rather than understanding it through ones own engagement. Catholicism being highly influenced by Platonic thought was carried over into the “Enlightenment” age. Philosopher Rene Descartes can best illustrates this way of thinking in his writings in “Discourse on Method”. One of Descartes essential tasks in Discourse on Method was to prove the existence of God, in order for science to have a solid foundation to build upon. His proof cogito ergo sum “I think, therefore I am” is a proof to show that the “I” (the thinking thing) exists, regardless of whether one doubts or not. His explanation was that the physical existence and the senses could not but trusted or deemed worthy of truth, rather the thinking thing “I” or the mind could through reason. This “mind” “body” dualism reflects the Platonic influence on him; the “mind” being the higher and the “body” being the lower. It also reflects the Platonic/Christian thinking “mind or soul” = God (pure) and “body”= earth (flawed)
Reduction of Man to a machine and the loss of dignity The danger of the thinking developed by Descartes further reinforces the notion that the physical human (the sensual) is not of their essence, it is flawed. Their essential being, the “I” or the rational mind, in this case, is something that isn’t of the physical world, but something that is higher, or more perfect. This type of “rational” thinking results in a “stoic” attitude toward the world, which in effect, conceals the qualities that make humans uniquely human. In Descartes “The Description of the Human Body”, he explains the human body in terms of basically being a machine for the soul to reside in. He reduces the human body to merely mechanical responses to the soul. Although Descartes philosophy is no longer a widely accepted theory today, its spirit carries on. The “Enlightenments” extreme faith in mathematics and logic as the only legitimate way of thinking is engrained in contemporary education and thinking . Alberto
Perez-Gomez states that: “Because positivistic thought has made it a point to exclude mystery and poetry, contemporary man lives with the illusion of the infinite power of reason. He has forgotten his fragility and his capacity for wonder, generally assuming that all the phenomena of his world, from water or fire to perception or human behavior, have been “explained”. The danger of “rational” thinking is that is that it assumes that the world operates on a level of only “pure reason”, leaving no space for mystery and absurdities to occur. Because this assumption is regarded as “absolute” or “universal”, rationality reduces the whole world to a level of legitimacy based “reason”. This change in perception allows humans to behave as “observers” to the world. This type of thinking causes humans to look at the world as merely things being stored for their own manipulation. In the view of modern science, the world of phenomena is reduced to merely matter in motion, which can then be manipulated, changed, and re-organized according to human needs = modern technology. The problem with modern technology is that it alters the “things” essence and changes it to something “other than”. The root word of technology in the Greek term “techne” did not carry these implications. Techne was originally a revealing of life and nature in which human intervention deflected the natural course while still regarding nature as the teacher and, for that matter, the keeper. The essence of modern technology is a particular way of revealing phenomena, often far removed from anything that resembles “life and nature,” in which human intrusion not only diverts nature but fundamentally changes it. As a mode of revealing, technology today is what Heidegger calls “challenging-forth” of nature so that the technologically altered nature of things is always a situation in which nature and objects wait, standing “in reserve” for human disposal. Heidegger explains this problem in his example of the Rhine river. “The hyrdro electric plant is not built into the Rhine River as was the old wooden bridge that joined bank with bank for hundreds of years. Rather, the river is dammed up into the power plant. What the river is
now, namely, a water-power supplier, derives from the essence of the power station.” The problem with modern science today is it, ironically, conceals rather than reveals the world. Man sees material objects as being raw material rather than miracles of life. They see nature as being commodities to be used rather than well how can I think otherwise. In short, humans today, see things as objects of disposability. “They are disposable in the technical sense; they are easily ordered and arranged. Trees than once stood chaotically in the forest are now logs that can be easily counted, weighed, piled, and shipped. (2) They are also disposable in the conventional sense; like diapers and cheap razors, they are endlessly replaceable/interchangeable and have little value.” This carelessness and devouring attitude is a result of an accumulation of Western thought basing its legitimacy in reason that is far excluded and separated from the reality of the world which oscillates between reasonable/absurd, beautiful/ugly; and joyful and sad. Nothing stays the same, as long as it’s living. This long illusion of reason being the essence of truth has caused humans to forget their main task in being in the world; which is to cherish, protect, and preserve the world.
Conclusion Throughout history, we see humans mistreat this privilege; that is, to dress, protect, preserve, and ultimately set free over that which he rules over. Unfortunately, humans have forgotten this task due to the thick and callused layers of history which have been built up through the various types of thinking in societies. This callousness has caused a numbness or loss of feeling towards the world. However, this is the purpose of history, to help humans to remember that which they have forgotten. And it’s more important than ever for us to understand the direction we are heading before it’s too late. Until we fully recognize and exercise this role, sustainability will remain out of context.
Physical Models 82
83
MOMI Model Museum of the Moving Image
Architectural Design Studio VI
71 84
85 72
73
74
88
Art Work
Charcoal
22”x34”
Charcoal 22”x34”
Graphite
24”x36”
89
Oil on Canvas 40”x28” 90
“How would the painter or poet express anything other than his encounter with the world?” Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Oil on Plywood 14”x8” 91
thank you