Culture v. Technology

As technology continues to excel, the culture of many worlds also continues to adapt. In my thesis I will attempt to understand which of the two entities influences the other more in an architectural focus, if possible. I have selected the city of Barcelona to base my research on. After recently visiting this gorgeous city, I believe their rich culture is equivalent to their advancement in technology.

Reading Response - 'How to Draw Up a Project,’ Jose Luis Mateo

Within the first page Mateo states, "if a project is a process, it is a process with a fixed direction." Though I do believe every project is indeed a process and not a 'peak moment,' there are many instances when a project can double back on itself and change completely from its original conceptual idea. In that case there is not a consistent forward motion in the process (as portrayed in this writing) but a gradual push and pull type climb to a finished design. Sometimes there can seem to be too many restrictions to a project that it loses many of the early, and most crucial, steps in conceptual design.

Mateo later states "Analysis is useful only if it leads to synthesis...'ideas' are necessary, but the less they imply a specific form the more useful they are." These are two statements that I agree with and try to keep in mind while designing. Though analysis can lead to better understanding of concepts and observations, there are plenty of forms of analysis that can be seen as 'useless' or irrelevant to a specific projects. Similarly, ideas, in my opinion are form drivers and should only hint at what specific forms will later prevail.