Thanks Giving Tower - Essay Example

? College Built in 1976, the Thanks Giving Tower is one of the greatest achievements of Philip Johnson, a remarkable architecture during the cold war era. Located in Dallas, Texas, this public private complex is one of the most influential buildings of all times. It shows a symbol of economic prosperity and its design and general layout can be used to tell a lot about the political as well as the economic position of the country during its construction. The building has underground tunnels that are owned by the city of Galls and the other parts of the building belong to major private companies and personalities. The structure as its name suggests acts as both a centre of thanks giving, and as major economic activities. This paper critically looks at some of the designs of the building, the influence that the environment at that particular time of construction had on the building and how the building has been able to transform over the years to the present time. The contributions of the architect Philip Johnson are also discussed in detail and how his life influenced the construction of such a marvelous structure. The Thanks Giving square has undergone a lot of transformation over the years and each time reflecting the type of technology at that particular period of time. This particular building can be used as a tool for comparing modern buildings and technologies from post modern buildings and technologies. The thanks giving square is mainly used for religious as well as social services. This can be used to show that the society at this particular time was religious and observed religious events. For this reason, Philip decided to design a large building that could be used for religious functions. This building can therefore be used to justify the fact that the society of the 70’s was religious and that the designer as well as the owners were religious persons. The building can also tell us a lot about the culture that existed at that particular period of time (Welch 17). At the time of its construction, the US had a lot going on. There was need for unity amongst people from various states and the cold war was still a major problem. During this period, the US government being an anticommunist society wanted to prove to the rest of the world that it had the best technology. This led to the invention of many products that were to be used in homes and other places. At this particular period, the US was present in Vietnam and there were a lot of questions about their actions. The thanks giving square can present a lot of things about the US during its construction. With its complicated design and nature, this is one of the architectural designs that were used to sell the US to the outside world. It acted as a symbol of economic prosperity, and a technological advancement. The actual services that the building provided the people, acting as a social service and religious centre showed the value that the US gave to social as well as religious activities a neglected thing in the communist states. Philip Johnson designed one of the most beautiful buildings at that particular time not only to show out his mastery of architecture but to also sell the US to the world as a successful state that was better than the USSR and other communist states (Jacobson 47). The building of this glamorous building also shows the characteristic of the building technologies that were present at the moment of its construction. This was the era when various skyscrapers erupted to prove to the world that the US was a superpower and that no other nation could be able to compare with it. As time goes by from the 70’s to the 21st century, a lot of changes have been seen and new technologies have emerged. The thanks giving square has been able to transform with time and hence acquire new technology and shape that reflects on the technology of that particular time. In order to be sustainable all through time, there are various changes and transformations that have been implemented in order for the building not to lag behind. For example, during its construction, computer networking technologies were unheard of and at that time, there were few PC’s and computing was much complicated. However as time went by, the building was able to acquire computing technology. By now almost all rooms and offices are equipped with computers that have both LAN and wireless connections. This is one of the few changes that the building has undergone in order to be sustainable. The other transformation that has seen the building transform from a modern era to a post modern era is the change of the exterior designs (Cassar 6). At the time of its building, most of the exterior design of the building was covered in concrete. However during the late 90’s, there was a major redesign of the exterior parts and glass covered most of the exterior parts of the building. These transformations have made the building survive most of the technological advances and be on one level with other buildings. In 1970’s, the US had the best technology that had ever been used in history. These included building technologies, computing technologies as well as mathematics and other major sciences. The thanks giving square is one of the buildings that clearly shows the type of technologies that existed in the 70’s. With the construction of such a huge building, advanced technology was needed to calculate the weights of the house as well as the required weights to be used in the construction. Philip Johnson writes that the best technologies at that particular period of time were used to ensure that the construction of the building was safe and efficient. This is a clear reason to conclude that technology was very important in design. To design such an enormous structure, technology was not only needed for the construction but also for the design and tests. Calculations were done using mathematical theories and concepts developed by greater mathematicians while the design was mainly developed by the use of the Intel computers available at this particular period of time. The ability of the building to survive all the harsh conditions over the years tells us how reliable the technology was. The building has survived over four decades an indication that advanced technology that was reliable and efficient was used. This in overall depicts that the US had reliable and efficient building technology in the 70’s.this was one of the efforts that the country was using to sell capitalism to the outside world. The US was trying to influence the world to accept capitalism and reject communism. In the 70’s, communism was starting to show its negative sides in the USSR. As a result of this, the involvement of the USSR in other countries had increased as they wanted to influence more countries to follow their system of governance. The US was on the other hand backing other forces so as to resists the growing USSR influence. There was therefore a competition for the two countries to show the other worlds how their system of governance was working and some of their benefits. Being a major attraction site, the Thanks giving square was able to sell the image of the US to the communist states well. This was however done by other similar buildings that were present at that particular time. Other nations seeing the nature of buildings in the US were able to see the economic benefits of the capitalist and compare it with the communist states (Geva 44). Infrastructure and great architectural works and technology became one of the major reasons why most states opted not to accept communism. It is due to the architectural prosperity clearly shown by the Thanks Giving Square, that the US finally won the war on communism as capitalism showed more economic prosperity than communisms. Thanks giving square was therefore one of the greatest symbols of the success of capitalism in the US. In the 70’s, the US had already started showing signs of success in the war against communism and was way ahead of becoming the super power. The Vietnam War was a success and the country had been successful in chasing away communism out of South Korea. As a result of this, various architects were much concerned with designs that would be used to appreciate the success of the US in the battlefield. As a result of this, Philip decided to design the thanks giving square a building that would be used to appreciate the and thank God for the various activities that the US had succeeded in achieving. The inclusion of a chapel inside the building is a clear pointer that the building was meant to appreciate God for all it had done to the country (Smith 24). This hence brought the name the thanks giving square. Philip clearly showed the value of religion in the society at that particular period of time and how much the people were thankful to God for the success that they had seen in the battlefield. At the time of its construction, various architectures and designers existed and most of them had great designs that were admired all through the world. As a result of this, there were various competitions amongst architects and designers about who could come up with the best designs and buildings. Some of the great architectures and designers of this particular period of time include; Le Corbusier, Peter Eisenman, Robert Venturi, and Philip Johnson. All these architectures had unique designs and talents that made it hard to select the best amongst them. As a result of this, they competed allot so as to ensure that they were the best. Competition has always been the best thing for a consumer and the competition for these major architect giants led to a great benefit to the construction industry. The thanks giving square is one of the few buildings that represents the type of buildings and designs that were created by these famous designers (Mark ET all 5). The building acts as a major pointer to the nature of architectural knowledge and talent that existed in this particular period of time. The building shows that Philip was a talented architect based on the general layout of the building based on the building technology that was available at that particular time. His work is also incredible considering the fact that the technology at that time was way behind the current design technologies. However the thanks giving square match many modern buildings and is even more complicated than most modern buildings. Compared to other buildings at that particular period of time, these buildings show that indeed there existed a number of talented architects who did not have to rely on complicated computing systems in order to create incredible designs. Compared to designers today, the designers at this particular period of time did not have state of the art technology that designers today have. Most of the designers today have computers that aid them in the design process and thus come up with sophisticated designs. The building as the name suggests, was dedicated to social services and aid. It provided aid to less fortunate people and also had a chapel that was used for worship. This feature of the building shows that at the time of construction, there was a great need for religious intervention as well as social education and support on how to live peacefully. In the 70,s, there were a series of criminal activities with various gang lords arising from every corner. This created an insecure community with various killings and criminal activities being recorded every day. These activities were due to the rising number of unemployment that was seen in the country. Dallas in particular was faced with various social issues key of them insecurity and unemployment. These became one of the major political forces that were used to discriminate the government and its involvement in Vietnam. As a result of these activities, there was need for both social and religious intervention. The building of such an enormous building and dedicating it to social services and thanks giving is a clear evidence that the people needed an intervention so as to live a peaceful life. The chapel was also useful in hosting various religious conferences and acting as a social area where people would meet and discuss various issues affecting their society. During the Vietnam War, many people were divided based on this crucial issue. There were those who did not realise the importance of the US involvement in the war due to the pictures and mass death that was experienced in the war. As a result of this, various senators and major government officials were divided on whether to continue with the war or to drop the war. These major divisions meant that there was need of creating a public place that would unite people and encourage them to be together during the hard times. The design of the thanks giving square is a clear depiction that it was a place that was meant to unify people. The part of the building leading straight into the pathways of the street shows that this place was not only built for the rich but was also built for the people who were economically unstable. The chapel also allowed everyone access and there were days when people would gather in that tall building just to admire its beauty and discuss important things that affected their lives. This building therefore acted as a unifying factor to unify people from various backgrounds both socially and economically. It served its purpose well by allowing people to interact with each other and to forgive others and hence unify people. The thanks giving square was one of the success of the 70’s. It reflects on the beauty of that particular period and reminds us of the value of the technology present at that particular time. The building is also a legacy that stands tall and tells the world about the gifts of its designers and creators. However, more importantly, the building serves as a reminder of the various cultures and technology that existed in the society in 1970’s. This building therefore acts as a historical site that tells the whole world about the struggle of the US and how much the US was determined to show the whole world about its success. It also shows how capitalism was able to overpower communism (Harrisburg 28). Work cited Smith, Baird M, and Carl Elefante. "Sustainable Design in Historic Buildings: Foundations and the Future." Apt Bulletin. 40.4 (2009): 19-26. Print. Geva, Anat. Frank Lloyd Wright's Sacred Architecture: Faith, Form and Building Technology. New York: Routledge, 2011. Print. Cassar, May. Climate Change and the Historic Environment. London: Centre for Sustainable Heritage, University College London, 2005. Print. Welch, Frank D. Philip Johnson & Texas. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1999. Print. American History. Harrisburg, PA: Cowles History Group, a division of Cowles Magazines, 1994. Print. Stromberg, Mark R, Jeffrey D. Corbin, and Carla D'Antonio. California Grasslands: Ecology and Management. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press, 2007. Print. Jacobus, John M. Philip Johnson. New York: G. Braziller, 1962. Print. Read More