implies that institutions are doing things other than what is more
important, thus opening a view that what the institutions are doing is
possibly .... For example, the present 'institution' of the US Vice
Presidency also could be said to manifest ....
so let's compost and recycle !!!!!!! ( or vote...)
the crux may indeed be the role of institutions.
there is very little to distinguish them from plain
old dysfunctional bureaucracies - except for a
possible 'civic' mission and some legalities to
walk the talk, should checks find their balance.
the subject of subjectivity still does not evade
the legal self-entrapment by saying one thing
and doing another, and without consequence.
except that of the crumbling of public integrity.
what is not a private agenda in public facade?
the banality of the mission statement, virtuistic
in its benign cover for disregarding of realities
for some fictive ideality, until it is well too late.
what machine-driven cranks well-oil this beast
to outperform itself in its own image, godly so.
etymology of institution, see stand, para 27.
L ~instituere, to place (~-stituere, from ~statuere)
~in or upon, to establish or initiate .....
definitions of institute include, to set upon, to
found, to take the initial steps that will cause
(something) to come into being, to invest with
a spiritual charge, ... an institution for study and
research, ... devoted to some specific welfare
purpose, an institution offering social and
educational activities for adults, a building or
offices with these purposes, a collection or
summary of principles, esp. in law. a short
course of instruction or a seminar. (fr. L.
~institutum, purpose, plan)
and then on to institution... an organization
whose purpose it is to further public welfare,
learning, etc. .. the building or group of
buildings used by such an establishment.
the act of instituting something. the investing
of a clergyman with his spiritual charge. an
established law or custom. a person who is
a familiar sight in a locality. a collection of
rules or laws....
...institutionalism. n. the belief in the usefulness
or authority of established institutions (e.g. in
religion). the characteristic rigidity, standardization
etc. apt to pervade a public or private institution or
to affect the outlook of its officials.
...institutionalize: to make institutional in character.
standardized test quest:
antonym or synonym the institutions of architecture
begin, build, enact, erect, establish, fix,
form, found, initiate, introduce, invent,
ordain, order, organize, originate, plan,
raise, sanction, settle, start
abolish, demolish, raze, terminate, unsettle.
note: the CEO of Caterpillar equipment wrote to the
family of Rachel Corey (sp?) as when she was run
over she was trying to protect a house demolition.
The CEO's letter said they sell the dozers but cannot
determine what happens after they are sold, similar
in argument to the gun club: bulldozer as a weapon.
have always held fascination with a particular event,
a stretch of road where all types of the yellow-orange
equipment is conglomerated, a machinery yard of an
aesthetic of architectural machinery. always hoped for
a photograph of that, yet it is captured on a freeway,
at speed, unmoving yet powerful in its idling strength.
what if - what if there were an option for companies
that rely on building trades to join in an initiative to
rebuild the razed homes, to bring communities of
help with donated equipment, solar technologies
for independent power, and architects and building
materials, as part of a peace process-- land movers
front-end loaders and basic equipments, and some
investment in balancing of the imbalanced equation
in architectures of ignorance of the social dimension.
an offer of support, peaceful collaboration to rebuild
and restore civility and for more than the immediate
forces but those who also have a stake in peace.
the most powerful gesture, in my opinion, after the
WTC collapse was the gift of a cow from an African
tribe who heard of the tragedy and gave a great
sacrifice to honor the painful event with great heart.
machines cannot do this, houses, habits, may help.
and better than the least, an architect worth their
salt should be able to contribute to any rebuilding,
not in world-class terms, in a community, to assist,
there is so much to learn through interactions, what
if Palestian and Israeli cities found a way to relate
beyond the occupation, and were built in a way
unique to the world story, in proximity, different yet
similar, shared yet sovereign. it is hard to obtain
any sense of identity without a landscape strategy,
as Paul Shepheard wrote, or, basically, a place in
which to reside, a home to call one's own, on Earth.
architects, builders, and developers and others can
help materialize the dreams, as supporters of peace
and transformations, as part of cultural transitions,
though in a middle-ground where reason prevails,
long-term co-existence and mutual security is the
goal for each and all, where ancient connections
and relations bridge the past with the future, in
many vantages, perspectives, understandings--
there is too much to learn that is being lost to the
loss of options, to the use of a power to destroy an
idea that is no less valid in its existence, if world's
are to be shared in a public beyond endless wars.
what do the institutions of architecture serve? the
bulldozer as a weapon of war, never for peace, in
the larger, more complex, ambiguous, concession
of imperfect contexts, where one does not get it all,
nor reality on one's own terms, in order to dictate a
future -- modernity and traditions deserve so much
more yet receive less and less and less and less.
architects, if they looked 'backward' to the previous
developments which are the giants shoulders, are
now living in an extraordinary time in world relations
in that while some realms are closing, others are now
opening and with them, new understandings could
be possible, to understand the complex relationships
ways of communication, shared values, perception. it
is hard to fathom the wealth of knowledge that awaits.
and not for an exploitation and proprietization but for
recognizing value, cultural value, wealth of knowledge,
of development, of reliance and traditions that built the
present-- that it did not just come out of a bottle 300
years ago. instead, that its story travels all the way,
back to pre-history, and it is all here, somehow, to be
questioned and we are here, alive, to ask questions.
or, so it could be possible to learn something new in
the world given the newness of the relations, the way
the world is transforming its relations, most basic is
with .RU and .CN, of course, of great importance yet
this is not to forget _everywhere, except those places
ultimately so hostile as to be beyond travel, shut-out
and which will remain so, unfortunately, until change
can be found which enables a greater coexistence.
the polarization will change, eventually, and when it
does there could be unanimity in the need for peace,
in the need for shared goals, peace, and big changes.
are 'architects' up to the task, apparently not, not yet.
the last batch attempted to start WWIII in some hyper-
power over-the-top 'theoristic' virtual empire building,
neo-can-do attitude, with architects by the dozens in
ways large and small, for a private civilization on the
cheap, through war, death, mayhem, and daydreams.
VP Cheney, not your ordinary architect, he's god-status,
root, mo-lochness monster, whathaveyou, the .US now
awaits a verdict eerily in line with what could be its first
Ceausescu moment, patriotic paternalist book and all.
what is being done with all the luxury that exists in daily
lives, what has been done, except hoarding by default?
on the whole, where is the luxury of time, energy, and
money invested, in selves, in others, in both, in what
ways could this possibly become a bureaucratic and
an uncreative activity, bane to the rich of the novelty,
now a mass consumption on par with dynasties which
do not exist, in time with minds, else, the brutal forces
to obtain more such illusion would trump misery, pain,
humiliation, at all cost, to achieve an end goal of self,
of selfishness, of superiority, of conquest of the others.
not how it is, not how it has been, when woken up and
readjusted to more ideal, somewhat necessary, virtues
that transcend the slog maybe for some post-life barter.
when the best thing people can choose to do is die, it
may be possible that some serious structural problems
exist, that will not fundamentally change, sans changes.
not changes in money, time, or energy, necessarily, as
one can still use the same state of mind, place of mind,
time of mind, that locked in code that needs to busting-
up occasionally, it seems, to get stuff done beyond the
realm of zombie moviegoers and designer graveyards,
necropolis, the height of the uninhabitable death-sky
except by the mild-eyed, sanguine supermodels v.04.
the luxury offered as carrot by institutions as a future is
met with the missing whip of a broken stick, useless in
its legitimate functioning, a charming farce, pretend to
believe, just like 'tax relief' is a 'tax belief', an article of
faith that the most immediate pleasures will be of the
greatest reward, the wall of oncoming water ignored
or unseen as some specious thing called reasoning.
the end-use, ultimate immediate marketed pragmatic
illusionists perpetrating the mythic mindwash while
hoping for some serialized salvation as part of the
greater idealism of ideologism, coming through like
that fumbled hail-mary pass, end zone disappeared.
what is done with luxury, Great Gatsby! it is spent on
the private self, on the private mind, on the immediate
glomming of money as wallpaper, gauche detailing
of last minute tweaks as the clock ticks, heart stop.
music of the atmospherics, listen to the wind as it is
waiting, foreboding to tell its secret tales, repeating
itself in the bouncing charges, we decide, everyday,
post-Cheney we will get through this and find what
is needed to do what is right, institutions will follow,
they cannot lead, people lead, individuals as groups
and within reason, to forge ahead, not as machines,
alone, and with a purpose that is shared by humans,
not hostile corporate takeovers of countries, near
and far. the game is over, the dictator's time is up.
democratic institutions cannot be run by dictators,
nor can a democracy exist without public citizenry,
which is why an american revolution is underway.
bc
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