BOOKS

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“Chicanx Architecture: Divine Suppositions in a Multi-cultural Society”
Excerpts

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The Five Principles of The Chicano Architecture Style, individually, collectively, and/or in any combination thereof, will form the basis of the language for the articulation of "built-form" and "contextual-space". In some regards these principles are not new, merely brought forth from a “lost history” and waiting to be re-discovered. They are:

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1.    Pictorial Storytelling - The transcription of "folklore carved into stone" celebrating Rituals, Beliefs and Ceremonies, past and/or present, and highlighted by Motifs, Masks and Facades. Architecture is a permanent art – writing the next chapter with indelible ink causes the practice of architecture to take greater responsibility for its actions. The environment does not appreciate “junk” nor does the neighborhood, and for that matter neither do the individual building materials enjoy being abused. Furthermore, this holds true for the Story (e.g., design parti): no one-liners, only mesmerizing Actos, binary Diamantes, and/or diced Hikaus. In short, let the story be the story of the story of its locale.

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2.     Decorative Monumentality - Color, Texture, Pattern, and Mathematics as exalted in the architecture of the Maya, Aztecs, Anasazi and other Nations of the Americas. Accordingly, the basis of design and aesthetics has been established by the Ancient Ones. The expression of key architectural elements of the composition goes hand-in-hand with its symbolic, cultural and societal values. Moreover, the self-referential magnitude of Nature cannot be understated. For example, consider a sea shell. Simultaneously its truths are: a spiral formal character, a unique growth pattern, an opalescent color, and its equation r=aø. Now, instantaneously contemplate its multi-dimensional truths as a singularity.

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3.    Exuberant Juxtaposition - Materials, Functionality and Compositional Hierarchy. The celebration of various architectural elements – A palette of materials, everything from flamed polished granite to split-face block, from low-E glass, tinted vision glass to spandrel and/or reflective glass, and metal panels systems to stucco plaster surfaces, each revealing its inherent beauty (e.g., veins, grain, texture, and/or color), in order to experience the finesse of sophisticated detailing to ensure its overall functionality is a worthy composition and a cultural legacy. 

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4.      Axiality and Astronomy - Solar Orientation, Spatial Alignment, and Procession. That is too say, the solemn journey and reverence of Procession reveals the essence of its place (e.g., rooms, structures, campus complex) by matching its locale wherein a congruence occurs with the framework plan of the region. Similarly, the place will exhibit a meaningful solar “thumbprint” of its shadow, and the “light” consistent with the anticipation of the aforementioned solemn journey.
 
5.    Sustainability - Passive Energy Design Systems and Water Conservation, and a Multiplicity of Re-uses. In particular, the management and use of resources to meet individual, community, and regional needs in order to maintain a wholesome lifestyle will become paramount in the 21st Century.  Further, the interdependence of all living things, and its relationship to the air, sunlight, climate, soil, and water, mandate optimization for the well-being of Mother Earth and Father Sky. Similarly, the increased disparity between socio-economic groups only causes the delicate equilibrium of the planet to become more untenable. At the end of the day, this will become a Human Rights issue.

 

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