How social/ physical/ virtual link together- Amandeep

Hey- everyone! Humera I love the tram stop! It creates a sense of social space within a small area, increasing the people flow; even the stations create the idea of motion. Not sure if I like the bike, looks a bit too retro to me, and can't see anyone using it in the future!

Referring back to my last post about how modernisation maybe linked to mobility; I have interpreted Marx’s view as time being an indicator of how we have grown as a society and how the world has become more accessible and mobile- The idea of the word ‘Modern’ has never been interpreted the same.

I thought the best way to understand this was by looking at my own life; the above diagram is my representation of how mobility has affected/ changed over my lifetime. I have highlighted key points in my life (through a time line), that have increased my mobility within society.

The basic points I can pick out from it are that the virtual and physical aspects of mobility act as supports to the social factor. They all work simultaneously, and I wouldn’t be able to function properly if one was removed. As I have become older and more socially active, my virtual and physical mobility are automatically increased. I can also see that my virtual mobility is more active than my physical mobility, as I am more likely to contact someone via email/ phone rather than visit them in person.

I notice that education is a key backbone from where many of my social connections derive, as we do spend a lot of our youth studying. I can also see my virtual connections are mainly to local friends and friends.

While travelling, I can see a mixed set of emotions, especially when travelling to a new place, or a rarely used transport. It is here, in these transient places, where De Botton says we best encounter our true selves. It is these places where we feel that we can isolate ourselves into a place of comfort.

Maybe in the future surrounding will change according to our movement, or lack of it. Maybe our physical mobility will be replaced by more virtual movement as it is easier, faster and cheaper? Maybe our physical transport will get faster, more types of transport, but will we travel less often? Will there be any need to go to work, will we be working from home?

Amandeep

I was reading “All that is Solid Melts Into Air”, when I came across Marx's interpretation of Modernity:

“Modern environments and experiences cut across all boundaries of geography and ethnicity of class and nationality, of religion and ideology: in the sense, modernity can be said to unite mankind.”

He then goes on to say, “ The maelstrom of modern life has been fed from many sources: Great discoveries into physical sciences, changing our images of it and our place in it; the industrialisation of production, which transforms scientific knowledge into technology, creates new human environments and destroys old ones, speeds up the whole tempo of life, generates new forms of corporate power and class struggle; immense demographic upheavals, severing millions of people from their ancestral habitats, hurtling them half way across the world into new lives; rapid and often cataclysmic urban growth; systems of mass communication, dynamic in their development, enveloping and binding together the most diverse people and societies…mass social movements of people, challenging their political and economic rulers, striving to gain control over their lives…In the 20^th Century, the social process that bring this maelstrom into being, and keep it in a state of perpetual becoming, have come to be known as “Modernisation.”

Apart from being left breathless and slightly dizzy, this got me thinking- is modernisation linked to Mobility, because according to this definition they seem very similar? This move from a world where none of what we have today was possible and was seen to be in distant future, is now easily accessible to everyone- a stage of mass communication.

He later goes on to say that we are now “Capable of everything except solidity and stability.” Is this a good thing or bad? Solidity means that we are stuck with everything permanent even when changes around may occur. Doesn’t our world of ever changing surroundings provide us with spaces that are adapting to our changing needs? Isn’t this change/ mobility necessary for us to survive?

Maybe this permanence can occur, if the built environment was naturally adaptable to our needs, if architecture was designed in such a way as to always accommodate the needs of its user…?? And referring to Neil's post, the building shown maybe a step closer to this, the ideas are there but are we able to translate into a built form?

Can one building remain permanent and modern at the same time??

What do you guys think???