A Glossary of Architecture and Urbanism

ARCH 5624 - Urban Design Seminar Fall Semester 2012 Graduate Program School of Architecture + Design, Virginia Tech

A Glossary of Architecture and Urbanism Huijuan Dong

Liberty vs. Freedom Liberty-Has to do with growth, specifically the growth of a kin group, within which one was free.

Freedom-Seems wholly bound up with lift in small communities. Only meaningful in society.

Politics vs. Constitution Politics-“Polity”, the unchangeable nature of a state.

Constitution-“Structure”, changeable but not easy to be changed.

Utopia vs. Dystopia Utopia-Community or society which are highly idealized and symbolized.

Dystopia-Always associated with cataclysmic decline or disorder of society. It is characterized by absence(negation) of place.

Architecture vs. Urbanism Architecture space is defined by its own internal logic, while urban space appears determined by the external constraints of the built mass such as circulation, property and density, and thus is not reducible to univocal form like architecture.

Place vs. Space Place-Place is physical. While it is true that places are seen through individual eyes, most things attributable to place are pre-existing. .

Space-They come in all shapes and sizes, and can be solitary or shared.

They are not constrained by physical limitation, and, most often, they are not of the physical world.

Object vs. Thing Object-”Product”. .

Thing-A Thing is an item where one knows where the item was made and how it was made.

Polis vs. Urbs Polis-Self-governance, autonomy and independence. .

Urbs-Manmade, physical and materialized.

Action vs. Emotion Action-Is the human initiative to begin and set this beginning in motion. .

Emotion-Is the execution of a very complex program of action.