Spatial framework for intermix

[摘要] We are witnessing a rapid transitional period---a period of transformation in human environment, as a result of the technological impact which brought forth changes of human functions and organizations which defined our values, culture and self--expression. All these changes have in turn effected the entire human personality as expressed by his biological and social behaviors.;; In terms of the currently accepted picture of the relation of man to technics our age is passing from the primeval. state of man, marked by his invention of tools and weapons for the purpose of achieving mastery over the force & of nature, to the radically different condition, in which he will have not only conquered nature, but detached himself as far as possible from the organic habitat.;;We no longer function as an autonomous personality, but rather as passive, machine-conditioned organisms. We are using technology in a collaborative way at a sacrifice of a communicative way. Hence, we are in a dilemma to adjust socially, because wehave substituted the part for the whole. This fact is clearly reflected in the demonstration of our activities which exist in the city. A city of today no longer functions as a homogeneous center within which people as a collective unit interact socially, because thereis no framework which could integrate the diversity of activities involved; which is the basic characteristic of the modern city. Instead, it has become a conglomoration of individually organized establishments within which people separately perform their functions in a specialized and mechanical manner. Our social evolution is lagging far behind the technological evolution.Social evolution refers to the change of our Major social functions, e. g. production-distribution-consumption, socialization, social control, social participation and mutual support. Technologicalevolution refers to the change taking place within the process of our functions. It is an instrumental change rather than a social change, but its application signifies a tremendous deviation from that to which we are accustomed to. There seem to be a large gap between human nature (definable by the physical and socialbehavior), and man-made environment (definable by the technological application of media and mechanical tools). There is an overlapping of positions (technological and sociological) and we cannot step outof it, because it is a natural product of the changing culture thathas taken place in our time—it is a process of evolution.Therefore, what we must do is to maintain an equilibrium of theexisting situation by means of organizing a framework which would converge the two positions into an integrated system.

[发布机构] Rice University