Territory and Globalization

My travels began with a concept as opposed to a place. I discovered the term deterritorialization when stumbling upon the work of Eduardo Arroyo on the Levene House, located in Madrid Spain. This building fit to its surroundings allowing it to be formed with the environment as opposed to clearing space for the building. This led me to follow the concept of deterritorialization which was developed by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze.

I found an example of the cycle of deterritorialization and reterritorialization within history. During the Spanish Colonization of the America's in the late 15th century and through the 16th century, the Spanish would come in and deterritorialize the current culture by removing important structures and figures. Then reterritorialize by establishing their own culture where the original use to exist. This transitioned into the concept of globalization leading to discussion on how it has changed since the Spanish Colonization.

I began in Dubai with the Burj Khalfia. It is an example of Dubai's personal triumph yet at the same time a testament to what we as humans have accomplished thus far. It places Dubai as a player in the global market and allows it to reach out to all other places on the globe.

In light of my discoveries, I asked myself, in today's world do we define our territory or is a set of lines and boundaries defined by law or geography, or is it that territory is without definition? Can we simply accept architecture for what it is or do we automatically come up with ideas of how it should be based on our own knowledge of the culture and environment the architecture exists in?

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

I am Vietnamese and I was born in Cincinnati, OH. I never left Ohio and did not get to experience the real culture behind my heritage. My family has taught me many traditions of the Vietnamese culture but I don't get to experience that firsthand in Vietnam. Some day I desire to travel to Vietnam (specifically Saigon, which is now called Ho Chi Minh City) to learn more about the country. Since I am an architecture major, learning the history of the architecture in Vietnam would be interesting. The building styles have evolved throughout the years according to whom was in power at the time in Vietnam. The Notre Dame Cathedral (upper left) is a well known catholic church located in the middle of the city. During the time the church was built, the French government was in power. The style reflects the traditional French with the intricate details. Another part that I discovered about Ho Chi Minh City is that the city itself is following the contemporary path and going towards the more "sleek" style of the generation. District 7 is the part of Ho Chi Minh City that is following the trend. They are more economically stable and have more money to spend towards these buildings. This part of the city is getting a new look compared to other parts of the city.

Hong Kong Education

For my travels I went to Hong Kong and researched the new developments in educational buildings that are currently underway. I traveled to Hong Kong because while researching a place to travel to I stumbled across the Baptist Roads Development in Hong Kong. I have always been fascinated with education and the architecture of schools so I thought this development would be a great opportunity to gain knowledge in the field and insight into the ways people across the world conduct education standards and methods.

I discovered the intense grading and test taking standards in Hong Kong and discovered the multitude of tests that are expected of students even before they reach the upper level college area. I also discovered that Hong Kong is an up and coming financial hub that is a very polished and chic eastern country.

Questions that have remained even throughout my research are:

Could the methods of building architecture currently happening in Hong Kong work for American Schools?

Does the type of architecture of building plans encourage and promote better learning environments with better test scores?

What does the interior of the Baptist University Campus Roads Development look like and how has this building and interior really benefited and satisfied the needs of the students, faculty, and culture.

Travels to Calais, France

My travels took me to a place on the coast of France called Calais. It is the place that hundreds of asylum seekers have inhabited in hopes to take refuge in Britain. The immigrants are from the Middle East and seek a better life in Britain. The situation involves three main areas: the Middle East, Coast of France and United Kingdom. All are linked together as the route for immigrants to get to a place of refuge. The problem though is that they cannot get to their final destination: Britain. Most of the asylum seekers do not have documentation and have had to be smuggled from country to country. Calais has become the filter for the immigrants to the United Kingdom; the problem is that they simply just stay in Calais since they cannot get to the United Kingdom. The result is the asylum seekers flooding the natural regularly inhabited areas beyond just the region reserved for immigrants. A forested area in Calais where immigrants would take up shelter was known as the 'jungle.' It was destroyed in September of 2009 and has left many of the immigrants to just live on the streets of Calais. This issue influences design and architecture because it deals with these people using natural environment and minimal materials to create a shelter. It also has to do with the globally people becoming more connected. The idea that people going from place to place in hopes to settle and find a new home; there is an inherent link occurring between those countries.

The Philippines

For my travels, I journeyed to the Philippines, the country half of my family is from. I began my travels by investigating an architecture project for the renovation of a school located in Metro Manila. The Santiago Syjuco Memorial School suffered from constant flooding and termite damage. The architecture team proposed a new design for the school that drew its inspiration from a traditional Filipino form of architecture: the bahay kubo or “nipa hut.” I found that though the country’s monsoon flooding, earthquakes, mudslides, and termites can destroy the bahay kubo, it is easily rebuilt using renewable indigenous materials like bamboo and nipa palm. The hut’s raised position on stilts and its slanted roof help effectively utilize airflow through the home. But the bahay kubo is not seen as an efficient form of architecture because it isn’t westernized: the plant matter and wood used to make the hut gives it a rough appearance, and the one or two room layout of the house goes against western ideas of privacy and separate rooms. But the architecture team’s use of building structure, stilts, and indigenous materials in their plan to raise the school away from flooding, increase airflow, and be environmentally safe show the bahay kubo’s use in modern architecture.

Are there architectural elements from the past that can be used in new innovative ways today?
What is the responsibility of countries to “go green,” especially poorer countries that may not be able to afford expensive technology like solar panels?

My project travel to Seoul, Korea

I decided to travel to Seoul, the capital city of my country, Korea. I studied and introduced cheonggyecheon, which has been arguably issued amongst almost every citizen in Seoul. In Korea, to consider the relationship between a construction and surroundings, even the current of energy. For political, economic, and societal matters, cheonggyecheon is evaluated as a big problem in Korea, however, it is quite essential and useful for the people in Seoul. It is recently one of the main tourism attraction and also a symbol of Seoul.

my travels

I have traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil because of the 2016 summer Olympics are going to be held there. I found out that this is the first Olympics that are being held in South America, which is a huge step especially since all the other countries already held the games before. Another reason why it is being held in Brazil because it is beautiful with the beaches, the sugar loaf mountain and the Cristo Statue or Christ the redeemer Statue. I have also discovered that Rio de Janeiro is a notorious place for favelas and dangerous street gangs. My question is should the Olympics be held in a place where there is corruption and high levels of crimes? Another question I had is since it is going to be held there, is this going to create a better, safer and cleaner Brazil? Are the Brazilians going to use this opportunity to make a positive difference in their country?