Video Review - Architecture

In Prarie Style, I learned about “organic architecture,” which is the process of using elements of the environment in the architecture to make them look like they blended in or belonged.  This reinforced many of the things I learned from traveling to Fallingwater – in falling water, stones from the environment were built into the house, which itself, was built over a waterfall.  Prarie Style, used many floating planes and different level of roofing to blend in with its surroundings.

In Architecture: Science and Design, I learned that architects sometimes use trees as strategic methods to offset the challenges of an unfriendly environment.  In this case, they are used as wind blockers for tall skyscrapers.  I also learned that, although concrete is brittle, sometimes it is reinforced with bars of iron – I now know what re-bar is.

In Classical Architecture, I learned that although there have been astounding technological advances in architecture, some elements of classical architecture are still used today.  Perhaps the most fascinating is that solar heating was actually an old technique is still utilized today – this even relates to “green architecture” since if we use the sun for energy, we are making use of an unlimited energy source.

In Last Call for Planet Earth, I learned that some of the most cutting edge green technologies are coming from China.  For example, building narrow apartments can allow for cross-ventilation between apartments, cutting way down on energy consumption.  What is interesting is that these aren’t complicated concepts – architects believe that using simple techniques, we can cut energy consumption easily by 20 or 30 percent.

As usual, the videos offer a more “in-depth” look at the subjects covered in the text.  They all discuss various aspects of architecture, including cutting edge technologies and extremely influential artists like Frank Lloyd Wright.

I enjoyed watching Last Call for Planet Earth because I, like most of the world, am interested in being more “green.”  I also enjoyed watching Prarie Style because I love Frank Lloyd Wright’s ideas and style.  My overall opinion of the videos is that they offer other perspectives on architecture that our book doesn’t cover, and therefore, are good learning tools.

As I stated earlier, I picked Last Call for Planet Earth because I am interested in “green architecture.”  There is a television show called “World’s Greenest Homes” on Planet Green that travels around the world to tour homes that are extremely green.  It is my hope to eventually build a house like this someday – therefore, I was hoping Last Call could provide me some extra ideas from the inspiration I already took from “World’s Greenest Homes” – it did!