Machu Picchu and Century City Mall - Essay Example

Sur [Due Argument Development and Source Collection Although Machu Picchu and CenturyCity Mall were built centuries apart, they share some features that make bring them together in certain features. The differences in landscape and construction have contributed immensely towards a discussion in regards to the composition of the two landscape features. Each structure has attracted much intrigue and the difference in timeline through which they were respectively created has also been considered when critically analyzing both strengths and weaknesses. In this paper, the similarities will be discussed based on those particular features. The similarities have been extensively discussed under specific subtopics that directly link to the aspect of development and of significance to this course Labor For the purposes of engineering, all elements of construction are often labor intensive. This means that for the success of these constructions to their completion, a high number of experts with diverse skills on different elements of construction are often empowered to provide their services during the construction. These two structures, one of them quite ancient in age and the other practically modern, have shown skillful finishes in their general outcome. This means that there was extensive human labor placed into coming up with both structures. Construction of Century City Mall in Makati required enormous supply of labor to successfully complete. This can be seen from the conclusion of the construction because there is a classic touch of manpower in the engineering of the different sections within the mall. Just like most contemporary mega-projects, Century City Mall was very labor-intensive. Image 1: Century City Mall. (Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com) From image 1 above, the type of finishing skills placed into the construction of the mall does not appear to be the kind of workmanship that requires few personnel. This can be a clear show that the construction involved a significant number of experts and handymen to create a masterpiece. (Oleksy, 76) The same conclusive debate about labor can be seen in the Macho Picchu construction. Labor can also be talked about in the same breath because it is very large and the human cost it took to build it to completion, considering the period, was significant. Seeing that Macho Picchu stands at around 2,430 m above sea level clears all doubt that the construction must have involved a great deal of clear planning and labor input. The structure has large walls, ramps and terraces with a massive height. The structure covers around 32,592 hectares and is surrounded by mountain peaks, slopes and valleys. The elements being symbolized by Macho Picchu inspired lots of people to present their varying range of skills so as to achieve an outstanding structure that could play the particular roles attached to it as natural and cultural values beside beautification of the environment. (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/274). The image below shows the comprehensive structure and the end product that must have articulated the requirement of a number of skillful employees in terms of labor. Image 2: Machu Picchui Cost When talking about costs, the idea that comes to mind is the extensive amount of finances that have been placed into the whole affair of constructing the two large structures. It appears as a matter of apparent fact that constructions of structures no matter how small will always be highly priced to bring them up to their completion. With this idea in mind, the two structures have shown clear-cut designs that are intricately structured. Century City Mall, for example, applied modern materials in construction which have been projected to have cost 1 billion Filipino Pesos or more to construct the whole mall. (Allison, 45)That is much money in today’s currency but the same amount would have been used to put up larger structures in ancient history before the sophisticated materials were discovered. When one takes a look at the exterior and interior designs of the mall, one can estimate the structure to be worth the amount of money that has been projected by figures to have been used in the construction. The figure below shows interior designs of the mall with perfect designs that cost much money to create into perfection. Image 3: Century mall interior (Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com) Due to the fact that the mall houses many other brand houses within it means that the cost of its construction may not have been an issue especially because of the returns that are achieved once the spaces are rented out to the respective brand shops with the desire to operate within that space. Although nobody knows the exact financial cost of building Machu Picchu, putting up a structure of that scale using dry stones would not be cheap, even by the financial measures of that age (1450). Machu Picchu was designed during the ancient times and so the determination of the costs incurred may be difficult. There are no specific documentation derived from the archives that are transparent enough to document the cost of the construction. From the images presented, one can be prompted to draw a conclusion that the engineering factors, payment of personnel and the purchase of construction material must have cost a lot during the time of construction. The figures that have been presented about Machu Picchu may not immediately present a representation of the costs incurred, especially due to the fact that it was constructing many years ago. It is, however, worth noting that a significant amount was spent to create the product that has been described as a classic phenomenon. (Oleksy, 78) Purpose When large groups of natives come collectively to make such landmark constructions, they often have a well devised plan on the actual building when it is completed. The two landmark structures being discussed in this paper have documented differences in the purpose for which they were created. Century City Mall is a modern mixed development whose main purpose is to provide leisure, entertainment, and retail services to people who live in and outside the Philippines. Although it also has some office space, the mall is mainly intended for entertainment purposes with its modern and technologically advanced cinemas, restaurants, fashion and beauty stores, and theme parks. The stores provide retail products and modern goods that are used in households and this attracts a number of clients into the establishment. The entertainment factor of the mall is that there are different cinema halls that show worldwide movies and theatre films to different audiences. The fashion and beauty sections of the mall provide new trends in fashions that attract different members of the society with a deeper understanding and interest in fashion. Beauty shops and parlors provide cosmetics and recreational activities that seek to identify beauty and act upon it for the benefit of the clients in that field of interest. There is a very credible theory that seeks to expound on the intended purpose of Machu Picchu at the time of its construction. The theory, according to Verano, and which is backed by many historians, contends that the Machu Picchu skeletons were a group of people who built a royal retreat during the reign of 15th century Inca Emperor Pachatuti. iiThe theory argues that Machu Picchu was intended to be a place where the emperor and his royal court (also known as panaca) to hunt, rest, and entertain guests. The first time the theory was drafted was in the 1980s, and is mostly based on 16th century Spanish document that talked about a royal estate called Picchu, which was constructed in the same general location as Machu Picchu. According to Guillermo Cock, an archaeologist based in Lima and who is a beneficiary of funds derived from the National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research and Exploration, members of the community may have stayed in the establishment for a specific amount of time. Considering the immense credibility of the theory, it is safe to say that Machu Picchu and Century City Mall were both established as leisure/entertainment purposes. The purposes of Machu Picchu were extensively expanded with the elements of drainage systems and the agricultural practice that has been made easier with the soils located in the sight. The agricultural terraces found in the location have also performed the functions that are agriculturally related, especially when the soils were rejuvenated after being left idle for a long period of time. The layout shows the different sections such as residential sections as well as agricultural sections that were used in the past. The figure below shows the agricultural section of the terrain that has been used extensively for different purposes Image 4: agricultural sections of Machu Picchu (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machu_Picchu) Scale Both Machu Picchu and Century City Mall are large-scale developments taking up huge areas of land. Century City Mall covers 17,000 square meters, which, although is small in the ranking that shows the statistics of the large and outstanding shopping malls around the world, is still a very large development area. The inside of the mall is also extensive as different amounts of space have to be allocated to the business premises that have rented their respective places and this makes up for most of the space found inside the mall. There is enough walking space between the shops and shopping shelves found within the mall and this is what led to the desire to generate enough amount of space to develop the mall. Cinema halls take up a high amount of space too with most of them fitted with automated leather seats that automatically require space. Image 5 shows the extensive amount of space taken by the cinemas found within the mall. Image 5: cinema halls in the century mall (Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com) Machu Picchu, on the other hand, is one of the largest ancient cities still in existent today. Standing at about 2,430 m above the sea level, the scale and amount of space that the structure occupies have been extensively estimated to be around 32,500 ha of land that extends to great lengths within the environment that is geographically inclined to provide the elements through which the design for the construction were decide upon. There are close to 200 structures that make up the constitution of the general structure and these elements are what make Machu Picchu attractive to the locals and to the rest of the world’s population interested in tourism and beautiful sceneries. The structure is divided into an upper part and a lower part with a square mass found between the two parts creating a more extensive space for the operations of the structure. The hills, mountains and valleys that have contributed the space for the construction of this structure are also large in their own particular right thereby contributing immensely to the general space that was initially structured by the engineers. (Richardson, 27) In conclusion, the two structures have differences and similarities in form of their engineering constructions but above all that there are other similarities too, as documented in this paper. The similarities will be discussed based on those specific aspects. The similarities have been extensively discussed under specific subtopics that directly link to the aspect of development and of significance to this course. When talking about costs, the idea that comes to mind is the extensive amount of finances that have been placed into the whole affair of constructing the two large structures. Both Machu Picchu and Century City Mall are large-scale developments taking up huge areas of land. The two landmark structures being discussed in this paper have also documented differences in the purpose for which they were created. For the purposes of engineering, all elements of construction are often labor intensive. This means that for the success of these constructions to their completion, a high number of experts with diverse skills on different elements of construction are often empowered to provide their services during the construction. The discussions that have been documented in the complete paper have sought to create an understanding of the similarities with regards to the different sections discussed in the body of subtopics. Work cited Alconini, S. "Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas." Hispanic American Historical Review 85.3 2005: 500-502. Print. Allison, Amy. Machu Picchu . Detroit, Mich.: Lucent Books, 2003. Print. Golay, Frank H. "Entrepreneurship and Economic Development in the Philippines." Far Eastern Survey 29.6 2014: 81-86. Print. Oleksy, Walter G. The Philippines . New York: Childrens Press, 2000. Print. Otsuka, Keijiro, and Takashi Shiraishi. State Building and Development . Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2014. Print. Petroski, Henry. "Machu Picchu." American Scientist 97.1 2009: 15. Print. Richardson, Gillian, and Heather, Kissock. Machu Picchu. New York, NY: Weigl Publishers, 2013. Print. Sajor, Edsel E. "Globalization and the Urban Property Boom in Metro Cebu, Philippines." Development and Change 34.4 2013: 713-742. Print http://www.abs-cbnnews.com (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/274). http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/machupicchu End notes Read More