Unit Summary

The reflections unit is a bit harder to describe than the previous units. “Reflection” as a concept is opinionated by nature. Reflection can also be focused on any topic on which a person wishes to ruminate- whereas; “alternative” and “foundation” are more concrete, operationally definable concepts.

For the unit summary purpose, I think that it is useful to reflect on the different ways that design and architecture was affected in different sections of the world by events and movements in the 18th and 19th centuries. Were the reactions of the people of the 19th century to ancient concepts like invention and war different than the reactions of people that lived in previous centuries? From a hindsight point of view- I think that they aren’t. The architectural moves made in the 19th century are, at their roots, very similar to previous centuries design choices and conflicts. The reason that we tend to view the 19th century as different was because of the magnitude of the inventions and communications that were taking place.

This unit included many design “conflicts.” I would suggest that the 19th century is not the first time that “conflict” in design happened- it was however the first time that there were multiple opportunities to express ones opinion and grow a movement basis. The ancient- gothic-renaissance-and baroque periods were categorized by the power of Empire and monarchy- whereas the 18th and 19th centuries have the rise of the first “open” settings for opinion and creativity. Design contests are now public- the “losers” of these contests were still viewed by the public.

Design “conflicts” also started to take place in quicker succession than in previous centuries- due largely to the fact that everything else in the world was moving more quickly as well.Information was accessible to many more people, much more quickly than ever before. Previously, theorists would have had to wait a long time to find out what was happening in the design world. With the advent of the printing press, photography and the increased availability of land and water travel- design and buildings could not only be written about in books and magazines, but also visited in person. If one didn’t have the money to travel around the world- world’s fairs became hugely popular as a competitive field for displaying the best and brightest of any given country. For any opinionated person, this added even more pressure to argue with even more people about everything.

For as many commonalities that can be found in the 18th and 19th century, there are just as many new issues. Population growth in this period was completely unprecedented. The world saw its first pandemics. The days of conquest by brute force were over – countries now teamed up and fought wars over ideas.

Reflection is present in this unit as it was happening within the period. This period is all about the increased ability of people to reflect on history and form new opinions. My reflection for this unit is about the human changes (or lack thereof) that took place.

Image from the 2008 Worlds Fair in Zaragoza, Spain. From the webstie of worldsfair.com