Friday, June 22, 2012
"Modular Architecure", Comments on Future Shock
Future Shock is a book written by Alvin Toffler, and published in 1970. I'm reading through it and commenting as I go. Feel free to follow (and comment) along!
On p63, Toffler uses modular “snap in” architecture as examples of
how man’s relationship with “things” is becoming ever more transient.
“…they all conspire toward the same psychological end: the
ephemeralization of man’s links with the things that surround him.”
Could the fact that we haven’t moved, in the intervening 40
years, to large-scale transient architecture suggest that our desire for a less
ephemeral surrounding outweighs our need for the convenience that a constantly
changing environment would bring? Or was
he just too optimistic on how soon it would be until this kind of building was
easy enough to implement broadly? Or
has, maybe, this already happened, and I’ve just missed it?