M. BRADY K. RICHARDS

THESIS DEFENSE

MAY 7, 2010

CITIZEN SCALEFACILITATING DEMOCRACY IN THE GOVERNMENT LANDSCAPE

Y

X

Z

LASALLE STREET . CHICAGO, IL

ENTRANCE

DALEY PLAZA

CHICAGO CITY HALL

PHYSICAL EXCLUSION

ATHENS CITY HALL

DOUBLE-BARRELED CANNON

HELLO CITIZEN

SYMBOLIC EXCLUSION

WHAT IS THEIR INTENT? HOW DO THEY FUNCTION? WHAT DO THEY MEAN?

ARE THEY DEMOCRATIC?

WHY ARE OUR PUBLIC PLACES THE WAY THEY ARE?

HOW CAN THE MANIPULATION OF THE GOVERNMENT BUILT ENVIRONMENT FACILITATE THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY?

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

++

=

AMERICA’S PROGRESSION

CONTEMPORARY INFLUENCES

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

HISTORICAL ALLIGNMENTS

However much a period may try to disguise itself, its real nature will still show through its architecture.

Sigfried Giedion

DOES GOVERNMENT IDEOLOGY MANIFEST ITSELF IN THE GOVERNMENT BUILT ENVIRONMENT?

PALACE POLITY: ANCIENT SUMER

GOVERNMENT FORM

CONTEXT

BUILT FORM

POLITY DIAGRAMAUTOCRATIC THEOCRACY

3000 BCE . FERTILE CRESCENT (MODERN DAY IRAQ) . FIRST RECORDED GOVERNMENTS

GOVERNMENT COMPRISED OF GOD-KINGAND PRIESTLY CLASS

CENTRALIZED, UNLIMITED AUTHORITY DIRECTED FROM A CENTRAL PALACE

LARGE DEPENDENT PEASANTRY EXCLUDED FROM GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

MONUMENTAL SCALE

EXCLUSION

GOVERNMENT MANIFESTATION:

GOVERNMENT MANIFESTATION:

FORUM POLITY: ANCIENT GREECE

GOVERNMENT FORM

CONTEXT

BUILT FORM

DIRECT DEMOCRACY

GOVERNMENT COMPRISED OF MALE, LAND-OWNING CITIZENS

FLEXIBLE DECENTRALIZED GOVERNMENT WITH CITIZENS ACTING AS BOTH EXECUTIVES AND LEGISLATORS

WOMEN, SLAVES, AND FOREIGN NATIONALS EXCLUDED FROM GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

POLITY DIAGRAM

500 BCE . GREEK CITY-STATES . INNOVATORS OF DEMOCRACY

INCLUSION

PERMEABILITY&

ACCESS

GOVERNMENT MANIFESTATION:

GOVERNMENT MANIFESTATION:

POLITY TYPOLOGY IS INCONSEQUENTIAL.

GOVERNMENT AND ITS BUILT ENVIRONMENT ARE CONGRUENT.

THIS SUGGESTS A CAPABILITY TO UNDERSTAND A GOVERNMENT THROUGH ITS BUILT ENVIRONMENT, AND VICE VERSA.

VS.PALACE POLITY FORUM POLITY

CONCLUSION

Each age tends to flatter the part of the past that sends back its own image.

Lewis Mumford

AMERICAN PROGRESSION

DOES THIS SAME CONGRUENCE EXIST IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?

AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

GOVERNMENT FORM

CONTEXT

BUILT FORM

RETURN OF THEFORUM POLITY...

POLITY DIAGRAM

1776-PRESENT . UNITED STATES OF AMERICA . INNOVATORS OF DEMOCRACY IN NEW WORLD

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

GOVERNMENT COMPRISED OF EXECUTIVE, LEGISLATIVE, AND JUDICIAL BRANCHES

CITIZENS ELECT GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES TO ACT IN THEIR STEAD

ARCHITECTURE

THE PRIVATE HOUSE WAS THE PRIMARY SYMBOLIC EXPRESSION OF CIVIC ARCHITECTURE

THE ISAAC POTTS HOUSE, PENNSYLVANIA ( C.1774)THE REV. HENRY WHITFIELD HOUSE, CONNECTICUT (1639)

AMERICA SOON DEVELOPED THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE, BORROWING PRIVATE FORM FOR PUBLIC USE.

LUMPKIN COUNTY COURTHOUSE, DAHLONEGA, GA (1836) SCHOOLHOUSE, GLOCESTER, RI (1800’S)

THE PRIVATE OR GOVERNMENT HOUSE DID NOT FACILITATE OR SYMBOLIZE THE NEW AMERICAN REPUBLIC.

ITS FORM SYMBOLIZED EXCLUSION AND PERSONAL INTEREST.

THE FOUNDING FATHERS BEGAN TO CONTEMPLATE LARGER PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND LOOKED TO THE EUROPEAN TRADITION.

THOMAS JEFFERSON WAS THE MAIN PROPONENT OF A DEVELOPING A NATIONAL STYLE.

MONTECELLO, VA (1769) CAPITOL OF VIRGINIA (1788) UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA (1819)

JEFFERSON USED SYMBOLISM TO IMBUE THE SPIRIT OF CLASSICAL REPUBLICS ON AMERICA.

METAPHOR OVER FUNCTIONAL FORM.

LANDSCAPE & PLANNING

L’ENFANT’S DC PLAN (1791) PENNSYLVANIA DC NATIONAL MALL

L’ENFANT IMPORTED THE FRENCH IMPERIAL PLANNING STYLE INTO AMERICA’S NEW CAPITAL.

LARGE SCALE BOULEVARDS AND MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE REFERENCED THE POWER OF EUROPE’S KINGS, NOT THE POWER OF AMERICA’S CITIZENS.

AUTOCRATIC PLANNING APPLIED TO AMERICA’S CAPITAL.

MONUMENTAL SCALE INTRODUCED.

INFLEXIBILITY

GOVERNMENT EVOLVED WHILE ITS BUILT ENVIRONMENT DID NOT.

IS IT STILL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY? WAS IT EVER?

AMERICA HAS NEVER HAD A BUILT ENVIRONMENT THAT FACILITATES ITS DEMOCRACY.

HOW COULD WE DESIGN IT TO DO SO?

CONCLUSION

CONTEMPORARY INFLUENCES

WHAT MODERN ISSUES MUST WE CONSIDER?

THE INFORMATIONAL BALANCING ACT

POLITICAL TRANSPARENCY GOVERNMENT SECURITY

DIGITAL MEDIA PEAK OIL

POLITICAL TRANSPARENCYTHE POLITICAL IDEAL FOR OPEN AND HONEST GOVERNMENT ACHIEVED THROUGH:

ACCESSIBILITY OF INFORMATION

CITIZEN INTERACTIVITY

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY

ARCHITECTURAL RESPONSE:

NORMAN FOSTER’S EDITION TO THE REICHSTAG, BERLIN (1999)

DESIGN INTERVENTIONS MUST ADDRESS THE REQUIREMENTS OF POLITICAL TRANSPARENCY: ACCESSIBILITY OF INFORMATION, CITIZEN INTERACTIVITY, AND OFFICIAL ACCOUNTABILITY.

GOVERNMENT SECURITY

GOVERNMENT SECURITY IS NECESSARY BUT MAY THREATEN DEMOCRATIC IMPERATIVES OF CITIZEN ACCESS AND INTERACTIVITY.

AT WHAT POINT DOES SECURITY UNDERMINE DEMOCRACY?

DESIGN INTERVENTIONS MUST ADDRESS SECURITY CONCERNS WHILE MAINTAINING CITIZEN ACCESS AND INTERACTIVITY.

DIGITAL MEDIA

FLATTENING TIME AND SPACE.

CONNECTING COMMUNITY AND ALTERING THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT.

CHANGING HOW GOVERNMENT IS RUN.

DESIGN INTERVENTIONS MUST ADDRESS THE POWERFUL POSSIBILITIES OF DIGITAL MEDIA.

PEAK OIL

PEAK OIL WILL CAUSE MAJOR READJUSTMENTS IN AMERICAN SOCIETY.

GOVERNMENT PROCESS WILL HAVE TO ADAPT AS WELL.

HUBBERT’S PEAK

DESIGN INTERVENTIONS MUST ADDRESS FUTURE ENERGY RESTRICTIONS CAUSED BY THE INEVITABLE ARRIVAL OF PEAK OIL.

EXPLORATIVE MATRICESSYNERGISTIC EFFECTS EFFECTS ON:

1. Human scale over monumental scale.

2. Modesty over opulence.

3. Accessibility over exclusion.

4. Transparency over opacity.

5. Interactivity over broadcast.

6. Function over symbolism.

7. Flexibility over stagnation.

8. Expression over suppression.

9. Integration over isolation.

10. Government decentralization over centralization.

DESIGN POSSIBILITIESHISTORICAL

ANALYSISAMERICA’S

PROGRESSIONCONTEMPORARY

INFLUENCES+( )+

DEMOCRATIC FORM

PRINCIPLES

STRUCTURE

HUMAN SCALE

VARIED MASSING

INCREASED ACCESSIBILITY

TRANSPARENCY AT STREET LEVEL

EXPRESSIVE STRUCTURES

SPACE

HUMAN SCALE

FUNCTION-SPECIFIC SPACES

URBAN INTEGRATION

FUNCTION-SPECIFIC SPACES

NATIONAL INTEGRATION

INFORMATION

PUBLIC INFORMATION INTERVENTIONS

CITIZEN SCALE

Y

X

Z

THE PARTICULAR REQUIREMENTS OF AN AMERICAN CITIZEN REGARDING STRUCTURE, SPACE, AND INFORMATION.

GOVERNMENT MUST TAILOR ALL FACETS OF ITS ORGANIZATION TO THE DEMOCRATIC IMPERATIVES OF THIS INDIVIDUAL CITIZEN.

A FLEXIBLE CONCEPTUAL MODEL APPLICABLE TO BOTH THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND GOVERNMENT.

TRAVEL AND INFORMATION NODE

TRANSPARENT STREET

DOWNTOWN SPECTACLE

Y

X

Z

THESIS ESTEEM GRAPH

THESIS ESTEEM GRAPH

CH. 2 DONE

ANGERDENIAL

BARGAINING

DEPRESSION

ACCEPTANCE

CH. 1 DONEYOUTHFUL

ENERGY CH. 3 DONE DRAFT DONE

TO COMMITTEE