arcVision 7 – Structure

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September 11 has brought about a permanent change in the international balances. Europe will be a key player if it manages to strengthen its own identity.

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As the third millennium begins, we are witnessing a sharp transformation of the international arena. New tragic events are tilting the balance of power broadening alliances and understandings: a therapy for new emergencies. New balances of international power in the realm of politics, economics and civil society emerge. As Dominick Salvatore has pointed out, in the absence of any valid alternatives, that globalization is continuing but with fresh awareness. New socio-ethical considerations are called for, if there is to be more widespread and democratic control of the processes under way so that developing countries can play a role on the international scene. The world financial-economic system needs to be restructured through a more even distribution of resources promoting a more diversified and dynamic trade system involving more players.

A situation that cannot do without the leadership of the United States, where, as Cesare Merlini notes, the president’s present popularity, new confidence in the economic recovery and a great sense of national unity might see the triumph of “reactive” foreign policy, stressing the superpower’s independence/isolationism from its allies. On the other hand, the concept of a global economy built on the active involvement of all the parties seems to be the best guarantee of closer relations with other nations. As Magdi Allam notes, even Arab nations should, for this reason, give up their ideological fundamentalism and successfully negotiate a challenge that can only be tackled with the help and contribution of the West. With the awareness, however, as Enrico Sassoon writes, of the necessity of giving structural priority to measures favoring poor countries.

A complicated and constantly evolving state of affairs, full of opportunities and dangers, as Romano Prodi claims, in which Europe can play a key role, as long as it continues to develop its present policy of strengthening its own identity by expanding its borders to bring in new member states.

The spirit of the times is also influencing architectural design. The coming together of Oriental spirituality and Western technology is physically embodied in the dome of the Maritime Museum in Osaka, Japan, a symbol of the union of complementary ideologies. Fragments of a family of buildings spread throughout the globe provide an external picture of the potential of the underlying structure, a backbone for generating forms just like the human body, with numbers acting like DNA. Design emerges from a humus of algorithms, fractals and equations, and appearance is the natural expression of essence in one inseparable whole. The common leitmotiv seems to be the construction of people-friendly spaces, a solid framework yet capable of creating emotion, in addition to providing shelter. The sail-shaped design of the “Dives in Misericordia” Church in Rome with its all-white surfaces and sheathes of light shaping its form suggests elevation as in a sanctuary of light; the monolith of the National Archives in Ottawa, Canada, is made lighter by its sheets of structural glass, which defy time and recreate the contemplative atmosphere of a symbol of memory.

The dichotomy between inside and outside of the DG Bank in Berlin is an innovative design for a financial world in search of new identities. In the words of Alberto Savinio, buildings are like bodies in which the vital pulse of the city beats.

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