J. Howard, /An Acct of the Principal Lazarettoes in Europe/ (e-book)

The architecture of the hospital: A study of spatial organization and medical knowledge /

Lindsay Prior

1988

Restructuring Isolation: Hospital Architecture, Medicine, and Disease Prevention /

Jeanne Kisacky

2005

Gerlach, Neil, and Sheryl N. Hamilton. "Preserving Self in the City of Imagination." Review. Canadian Review of American Studies 2004: 115-34. Project Muse. 21 Nov. 2008 <http://proxy.library.upenn.edu:2298/journals/canadian_review_of_american_studies/v034/34.2gerlach

This article discusses the way the metropolis shapes the film Dark City.  Neil Gerlach and Sheryl Hamilton, the authors of the article, delve into the ways in which a large city affects the mood and the theme of the film as well as past films that influenced the prominent use of the city in Dark City.  The two also highlight the human psyche of the city and how it leads to the alienation of its citizens as well as the seedy, unnatural feeling of a large metropolitan area. 
Dark City, with clear ties to Metropolis, acts as a modern day example of the ways a city’s architecture can drive a films plot as well as reveal facets of characters motivation and drive.  Hamilton and Gerlach both give credit to Metropolis for revolutionizing the idea of using a city landscape as a reflection of the film’s motif: for Metropolis that would be the dehumanization of humanity through technology.  As seen in the characters of Frederson, who lives high up on the building of the city, the further away he is removed from the ground, the further he is from the human soul and loses the very essence of humanity.  This is exactly what Gerlach and Hamilton discuss in the article, concluding with the idea that most protagonist of these films, which rely upon the architecture of the cities to convey their moral, attempt to return to nature.  In Metropolis’s case, this would be Freder choosing to be with Maria, the character who represents motherly, earthy nurturing. 

Higley, Sarah L. "A Taste for Shrinking: Movie Miniatures and the Unreal City." Camera Obscura. 2001. 20 Nov. 2008 <http://proxy.library.upenn.edu:2298/journals/camera_obscura/v016/16.2higley.html>.

This article by Sara Higley describes the optical techniques used by filmmakers that allowed them to give the daunting impression of an overbearing metropolis.  Going through movies from different generations and genres, Higley offers insight into how these techniques were applied and in what ways they added to the film’s message.  Separated by the specific technique, such as miniature cities or dark auras, with a movie that represents the described technique, the article connects many important aspects of movies that rely on the daunting affects that cities instill.
    The section that is devoted to Metropolis offers an interesting insight into the way in which the city that adds so much to the film was designed.  Lang used a miniature version of the metropolis to allow the feeling of helplessness to overtake the viewer.  As it is the intent of Lang to make an individual who may walk in this futuristic city, the towering buildings that outlay the city, this miniaturized city allowed Lang to create these overwhelming towers without the need to actually build life-size models of them.  Higley also mentions the use of shades of gray that Lang uses in this metropolis, which convey the idea of the questionable morality of those who live in these monstrosities.  It is the architecture of the buildings and their coloring in the film that conveys these ideas of the “evil” rulers of the city and the lower “pure” worker motives.  Additionally, Higley touches upon the different shapes that are used to construct the city.  Much in the same way as Jacobsen and Sudendorf mention how the lack of uniformity emits a confusion and daunting feeling, Higley reaffirms this by mentioning the multitude of geometric figures that make up the buildings of this horrifying world.

Norden, Martin F. "The Avant-Garde Cinema of the 1920s: Connections to Futurism, Precisionism, and Suprematism." Leonardo 17.2 (1984): 108-12.

In this book, Martin Norden discusses the ways in which Futurism, Cubism, and Precisionism appear in film.  Taking into considerations films of the 1920s, Norden discusses how each of these movements have influenced films and the ways in which one would be able to spot the attributes of these movements in film.  Going into detail into what constitutes each of these artistic factions,  Norden offers a unique way for viewers to pick up on directors’ subtle use of set designs in order to convey a message latent in the film.
    Metropolis’s set design, specifically its city landscape, utilizes two of these movements to help Lang further his theme of the overbearing upper-world versus the underbelly where the workers thrive.  Futurism and Precisionism both come into play in the ways in which Lang conveys the city, helping pronounce how the juxtaposition of the architecture movements between the futuristic metropolis and the ancient ruins of below reveal the individual motivations of the working class and the ruling class.  Futurism shows up in much of the working class world, giving the workers an almost mechanical motion taking the humanity out of them.  The very place in which they work is built around the idea of Futurism, having the machines have very intricate and specific designs, symbolizing the very jobs of the workers.  Precisionism, an American idea of using sharp geometric shapes in the city landscape, is also very prominent in Metropolis.  This movement adding an aspect of passionless intent to the upper-world, the sharp design of most of the buildings reveals a character attribute of the cold, heartless rulers of this world.

In this piece called "The Mediation of Technology" by R.L. Rutsky within Fritz Lang's Metropolis, an interesting perspective of the influence of the two aspects in which the piece is entitled.  Going in depth into how technology drove the main points of the movie, Rutsky describes how it rises from a darker, more primeval area of human nature that makes an interesting conversation into its relation to the film’s overall theme.  Further, the comparison of the role of male and female in the film, specifically between Maria and Freder, makes for an intriguing talk in how Fritz Lang really views this interaction of the sexes.  Rutsky delves into how the architecture used in the film adds to the theme by juxtaposing the extravagant, modern upper world structures with the underbelly, natural-looking, pagan catacombs of below.
    What Rutsky is able to add to the thought of the symbolic methodology of the architecture is how it can be furthered into the ways in which they also represent the two main characters.  The earthy feel in which the catacombs where Maria preaches adds to the character’s aura of being motherly as she tries to inspire hope in the workers whose dreams have been repressed by those who rule Metropolis.  Frederson, on the other hand, finds home in the lavish, upscale towers of the buildings on the surface, emphasizing his removal from the horrors that is to be a worker in this futuristic world.  Additionally, Rutsky takes into account the home of the inventor, Rotwang, and discusses how it acts as the very aspect to contrast with the “home” feeling of the caracombs.  He says, “the familiarity and warmth of the home of the ‘good’ mother can be contrasted to the darkness, occult symbols, and secret passages of Rotwang’s house”(Rutsky 230), explaining how the architecture of Rotwang’s house is actually a representation of his character, since he is a complex character being motivated by “secret” motives that are hinted at throughout the movie.  It is in this sense that Lang, in an unique way, creates a story by using the architecture that his characters use.

Jurkiewicz, Kenneth. "Using Film in the Humanities Classroom: The Case of "Metropolis"." The English Journal 79.3 (1990): 47-50.

This article gives a detailed description of the film Metropolis by Fritz Lang.  Giving insight into the overall plot of the film, the article also outlines the many different character motivations that make the film such a classic.  With descriptions and histories of all the main characters, the article provides the reader the opportunity to understand the motivation of the character's action as well as an insight into the psyche of the characters.  Additionally, the ending of the article provides critical reading questions that allow the reader to think about the film in terms of it s historical context as well as their own interpretation of Metropolis.
This excerpt written by Kennith Jurkiewicz gives specific examples of Maria as the biblical figure that I argue her to be and how it relates to the architecture of the lower level catacombs.  Comparing her to a "futuristic John the Baptist," Jurkiewicz adds to my argument that Lang's clear comparison between Maria, the voice of hope to the working class, and John the Baptist, the voice of the second coming of Jesus Christ, allowed her to sway the hearts of men, both the real "good" Maria and the robotic imposter.  This comparison to the biblical figure of John the Baptist gives clear point that it was this complete power to plea to the ethos of the working class, which drew from the motherly intuition of Maria, that made her such an iconic figure to this group of people.  This, along with the description of the catacombs offered in the other source, give an understanding of the Christian symbolism that is not only being emphasized by Maria but also the catacombs where she sends her message.  The catacombs act as an amplifier of the message of Maria, adding to the importance of the architecture to the film.

    In this chapter of the book, Patrick McGilligan discusses the beginnings of Metropolis.  Clearly grabbing influence from the Manhattan landscape, Lang describes how the buildings represented the human plight of the city dwellers.  Even the novel in which the film was inspired, the author, Thea von Harbou, discusses how her vision of the city is also similar to the New York skyline.  “’The houses dissected into cones and cubes by the moving scythes of the searchlights gleamed, towering up, hoveringly, light flowing down their flanks like rain’”(McGilligan 111).  This chapter also describes the way in which different architecture styles came together to form this futuristic city outline that has become synonymous with Metropolis.  Additionally, the rest of the chapter delves into the rest of the decisions that went into the designing and artistic view of the film.  The talk about how they would use a futuristic language and how casting went.
    In terms of the architecture of the film, McGilligan’s novel discusses in depth the thought processes that when into this important aspect of the film.  Explaining how Lang wished to infuse Cubisit and Futruist art style into the city landscape truly allowed the symbolic use of the buildings have the impact it did.  Not only did this infusion allow the viewer get a clear understanding of the futuristic idea of the city, the daunting and oppressive nature of the buildings and their placement makes them feel as if they themselves are the workers being suppressed to the lower levels of the city.  The buildings themselves act as the very means as to give this feeling of being less then those who live up on the very top of these monstrosities.  Furthermore, the twisted and abstractness of the buildings’ designs described in this chapter of the book add to the idea of unrealism that the movie seems to take.  This distortion of reality adds to the suspension of belief that the viewer takes on to understand the deeper message of the destructive nature of technology as seen through the architectures design.

Susan Smith "Metropolis: restoration, reevaluation". CineAction. . FindArticles.com. 30 Nov. 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3148/is_66/ai_n29174572

In this article Susan Smith describes the restored edition of Metropolis and dives into an in-depth analysis on many aspects of the film.  In certain points taking the mindset of Fredersen and Rotwang into perspective, Smith adds a unique discussion towards these characters that are not the focus of the film and how their past history that just recently came out in the restored version adds an interesting dynamic to their relationship.  Additionally, Smith really delves into the progression of the father-son relationship and how the plot actually fosters such a look into the Fredersens’ relationship with one another.
    Smith’s interpretation of the progression of the city landscape to the lower levels of the catacombs as an attempt to describe Fredersen Sr. escapes from his past, specifically his wife adds an additional depth to my original idea of the importance of the architecture.  The architecture in Metropolis, in this interpretation, has a direct connection with his attempt to build away from a past that he wishes to forget.  Smith even goes further and argues that the layers of the city act as a manifestation of Fredersen’s mind with the catacombs acting as his subconscious.  This view of the architecture seems to fit perfectly with the idea that Fritz Lang used the structures of the buildings in order to convey ideas of the characters and the biblical illusions he wished to use to further the meaning of the movie thus creating a masterpiece that did not even need sound to speak to a generation.  It is this unique use of the natural architecture of the catacombs and the man made monstrosities of the city to discuss the loss of humanity from the loss of nature.

 White, L. Michael. "In the Catacombs." PBS.org. Apr. 1998. 18 Nov. 2008 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/catacombs.html>.

  This article gives a description of the Christian catacombs in Rome.  Detailing the intricate system of tunnels in this historic city, Professor L. Michael White explains how these catacombs became an integral part in the early Christian movement.  Comparing them to “colonies of ants,” the article gives an interesting insight into how these burial areas became comparable to elaborate homes with painting depicting the classic biblical stories. 
    In relation to Metropolis, the catacombs were the safe haven of the hopes and dreams of the working class.  With its rocky, earthy look, the architecture of the catacombs just adds to the Christian ideals that were being preached in the depths of the earth.  The location of the catacombs symbolically represents the essential ideals that the character Maria hopes to instill within the crowd she speaks to.  As the article expresses, these catacombs were used as a hiding place for Christians during ages of prosecution and an area where they would be able to pray without fear of being caught.  This purpose clearly becomes important in the film, where Maria is able to preach to the masses of the arrival of a savior (comparable to the second coming of Jesus Christ) without the worry of oppression from the world above. It is the fact that the architecture is not like that of the luxurious, extravagant style of the upper world that allows the viewer to understand how the workers are desiring a more earthly, spiritual end compared to the demigods of the Metropolis on the surface.

Ginzberg, Louis. "The Tower of Babel." About.com. 18 Nov. 2008 <http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_text_jewslegends1d.htm#_ednthe%20tower%20of%20babel>.

Giving a brief history of the Tower of Babel, Louis Ginzberg highlights the important aspects of the biblical story that led to the creation of different languages.  The story goes that in an act of rebellion against G-d, Nimrod agreed to build a tower of epic proportions that would reach to the heavens.  It was in this hope that Nimrod and his counselors hoped to wage war with G-d himself and show their true power.  As the building of the tower continued, the workers began shooting arrows into the heavens and as the cam hurtling down, they were covered in blood, seemingly confirming their belief that they are slaying those in the heavens.  Upon seeing this, G-d decided to send down his angels and “confound their language.”  This is where the origin of different languages stems from and it was this confounding of languages that denied the workers the ability to continue working on the tower because they could not understand each other.
    This biblical story of the Tower of Babel plays a significant role in the interpretation of the architecture used in Metropolis.  At the center of this futuristic city skyline lays a gargantuan tower that holds homage to the story of Babel.  Much in the same way that Nimrod used it to defy the glory of G-d, Frederson had the building erected so that he could watch over his city, an attempt to feed to his demigod mentality.  It is in this sense of revealing the psyche of the “Nimrod” of our story that Fritz’s placement of this futuristic Tower of Babel becomes crucial to the interplay of architecture of story.  It is in this very sense that the viewer gets an understanding of the snobbish, elitist mentality of Frderson and how the very erection of the tower feeds to his idea of greater and lesser human beings.

Recent issues in home improvement commonly deal with architectural imitation, although not all of these issues are taken to court as formal copyright infringement cases. Betsey Schiffman provides some live examples of architectural imitation in her article in the home improvement section of Forbes magazine.  The first example she discusses is about a $1 million home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, built by a citizen named Truett Miley.  Miley designed most of the home himself and was convinced that it would be unique, but following his own creation, a house very similar to his arose in his neighbors' plot. Miley owns his own contracting company, and he filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against his neighbors Graham and Sharon Stone, who had built the similar house. One of Miley's major concerns was that the imitation house could affect the value of his own home if he decided to sell it, since it was so similar, and right next door. Although his neighbors' imitation could be interpreted as a form of flattery, Miley pointed out that it would have been much more flattering if the house was in another city or state, since this would be less likely to impact the value of his own home. Miley's attorney, Marc Whitfield, pointed out that it is very difficult to place monetary value on architectural originality. Because most homes have common features such as columns and shutters, it is difficult to prove that a home is "substantially similar" to another one. In a court case, a plaintiff must provide evidence that the features of a building are original and have not been used before, and this is very rare. Schiffman brings up the example of Cinderella's Castle in Disney World, which is said to be inspired by the German castle Neuschwanstein, which was built nearly 100 years before Disney World opened. In this case, it is nearly impossible to tell whether this is an issue of copyright infringement. Schiffman mentions other copyright infringement cases involving architecture, such as a case where Hablinski + Manion Architecture in Los Angeles found a home in Beverly Hills that looked remarkably similar to one they had designed. The firm discovered that the "copycat" house's creator, Mehran Shahverdi, had been an employee with them before, and had taken ideas from their firm and from another that he had been employed with previously. This case has actually not gone to trial yet, but is interesting and relevant because it provides a very current example of architectural copyright and its monetary implications. Schiffman's commentary in this article proves useful for my overall paper because it brings up the issue of monetary consequences following imitation in architecture, rather than just discussing the philosophical reasons for the AWCPA or other copyright infringement issues.

In this New York Times article, Fred Bernstein comments on previous cases involving architecture and copyright, most notably the Shine v. Childs case dealing with the Olympic Tower and the Freedom Tower, and their implications for the present. He brings up an example of early copying in architecture by referring to Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia, and how it mimics a Neo-Roman style in America. The first United States copyright act was passed in 1790, and copyright legislation in the United States did not involve architecture until 200 years later in 1990. Just as in other areas such as publication and music composition, it is sometimes extremely difficult to discern what parts of a creative work are similar to other works because of deliberate copying or mere coincidence. Although there are numerous obstacles in situations involving imitation in architecture, some architects see imitation or resemblance to their own work as forms of flattery. Architect Daniel Libeskind has presented two points of view on imitation. He doesn't mind that Donald Bates, creater of Federation Square (a large, commercial development in Melbourne, Australia), used acute angles similar to those used in his own work. However, Libeskind has objected to Peter Eisenman's design for the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, because it looked too similar to a memorial garden he had designed for the Jewish Museum in Berlin. However, the previous two examples deal more with intellectual debate than with copyright law. Copyright is only able to cover "tangible expression", not ideas, which is a clash that is often encountered with copyright issues in architecture. One of the major points of this article is that issues involving plagiarism in architecture rarely make it to court, because architecture is a largely collaborative effort. There is too much activity, combined from project architects, students, project designers, and consultants, for specific copyright cases to be honed out. Bernstein mentions three current cases involving architectural similarities, including one dealing witha partition in a first-class lounge in Kennedy Airport. Mr. Sharples, a partner at the firm SHoP/Sharples Holden Pasquarelli accused architect Zaha Hadid of copying the screen in the airport lounge from one of his firm's designs.  This is an example of how copyright cases can sometimes bring out absurdity in issues, especcially in architectural issues in which it is extremely difficult to discern between outright imitation and coincidental similarity.

  This article provides an interesting take on issues dealing with copyright and architecture before the AWCPA was passed in 1990. The author, Arthur S. Katz, discusses his definition of the term "copyright" itself, and how it should apply to architecture, even though no specific legislation had been passed on the subject during the time this article was written (Spring of 1954). Katz first explains how protection granted under copyright principles is a "pecuniary matter", meaning that if there is an indiscriminate use of an author's work, he is not protected under copyright law. Katz then discusses how an architect can be compared to a composer of music, more so than an author, because he uses signs, symbols, and graphic representations, rather than just words.  Because this article was written before the AWCPA, Katz states that it should be assumed that an architect's unpublished work, such as his designs and plans, are protected under common copyright principles against any misuse. Katz also then brings up his opinion that the concept of "novelty", or originality, in architecture should refer to creations that are not new to a creater himself, even though they might exist already. This article is intriguging because with the AWCPA not yet in existence, the author compares copyright in architecture to copyright in writing and publication. He refers to the fact that it is difficult to distinguish one publication from another in many cases, and this is directly analogous to copyright in architecture.  Katz's arguments and points that he brings up are useful tools in the analysis and discussion of my thesis, because they provide a perspective from the past, and can be applied to a discussion about present issues such as substantial similarity, and the "concept and feel" test in architecture.

In December of 1990, the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act (AWCPA) was signed into law, extending protection to a very general class of architectural designs. This article, by Raphael Winick, as a whole is useful because it provides a review of all of the provisions of the AWCPA, and how they were determined. One of the important points that the author brings up is that the AWCPA is well suited to ensure that social interest in architectural creativity is protected, and that limiting copyright protection to architectural design and works maintains creativity and progress in the field of architecture as a whole. Much of this article discusses issues inherent to the field of architecture, and their implications for copyright law. One of these issues is the imporrtance of architecture as an art form. Winick states that "architecture and society have a profoundly interdependent relationship", and that it plays more than just an aesthetic role in society. Before 1990, Congress was reluctant to extend copyright law to architecture, because they thought that such protection would prevent creativity in the field. Architecture can be considered a utilitarian work, and American intellectuals assumed that when useful objects were unavailable for others to modify or use, progress and creativity would be stunted. After instituting the AWCPA, legislators decided that further extending it would in fact lessen progress in architecture. Winick brings up the important point that architects rarely create completely original designs, and borrowing from existing sources is often times required. Borrowed elements include common designs, whether functional or aesthetic, such as arches, windows, or domes. Winick points out that originality and creativity can emerge when a new design is placed in a new context. This article is useful for an argument following my thesis, because it provides essential background information on the philosophies of the architectural field, which provide support for discussion of the AWCPA and substantial similarity.

In this article, attorney Manuel R. Valcarel IV discusses copyright issues that architects deal commonly deal with. Valcarel begins his article by stating that copyright is one of the most important forms of intellectual property protection that architects are involved with, and that copyright law provides architects with an incentive to increase their creativity and originality in their designs. Original expression is not only seen in works such as books and media, but also in architecture as it surrounds us every day. Valcarel brings up the interesting point that architects have to deal with copyright defensively, and offensively. Architects need to avoid violation of third-party rights when creating new buildings, as well as protect their own rights to their original work. This article is useful because it also discusses the qualities of an architectural work that are tied into copyright law. According to Section 102 of the Copyright Act, the part of a work of architecture that can be protected does not include functional features or design elements, but includes the arrangement of spaces and elements of the design and the general form. Examples of functional structures that cannot be copyrighted are bridges, dams, or walkways. The protection for an architectural work lasts for 95 years from the date of publication. This article highlights the separation between artwork utilizing architecture and the architecture itself, by bringing up the fact that it is not a violation of copyright law for someone to take a photograph or create a painting of a building. The main point of this article is that architects need to have a thorough understanding of copyright law, and must deal with it often in their practice. It is not uncommon for clients to approach an architect with designs that they themselves, or someone else, have created, and the architect must ensure that the work that he or she creates does not infringe on any third party works.

This article examines a case between the T-Peg, Inc. corporation and Vt. Timber Works, Inc, and how it relates to copyright law in the context of architecture. T-Peg, Inc. sued Vt. Timber Works, Inc, alleging that it infringed copyright of architectural plans under the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act (AWCPA). T-Peg claimed that Vt. Timber Works copied its design and plans for timberframed houses. The AWCPA states that the overall design of an architectural work, as well as the elements within it, are governed by the Act. In analyzing this case, the court considered a similar issue in copyright infringement cases in Strudza vs. United Arab Emirates. In this case, the plaintiff (Strudza) accused the defendant (the UAE) of using his architectural plans to construct its embassy, using components that were "hallmarks" of the plaintiff's design. This article is useful because it brings up the issue of "substantial similarity" in cases of architecture and copyright, and how the standards for substantial similarity are used to determine the outcome of cases like this. In this case with T-Peg and Vt. Timber Works, the court determined that substantial similarity must take into consideration the overall appearance of a work, as well as the appearance of individual components. A standard was developed from this that considers the overall "look and feel" of an architectural work. Another example of a case, that this article mentions, that takes into consideration the "look and feel" of a building, is the Shine vs. Childs case. In this case, the similarity between the plaintiff's Olympic Tower building, and the defendant's Freedom Tower was debated. Using the "look and feel" test, the court determined that although individual elements of the Freedom Tower were original, the overall composition of the building was too similar to the Olympic Tower, and thus the defendant was charged as guilty.

In this article, attorney Manuel R. Valcarel IV discusses copyright issues that architects deal commonly deal with. Valcarel begins his article by stating that copyright is one of the most important forms of intellectual property protection that architects are involved with, and that copyright law provides architects with an incentive to increase their creativity and originality in their designs. Original expression is not only seen in works such as books and media, but also in architecture as it surrounds us every day. Valcarel brings up the interesting point that architects have to deal with copyright defensively, and offensively. Architects need to avoid violation of third-party rights when creating new buildings, as well as protect their own rights to their original work. This article is useful because it also discusses the qualities of an architectural work that are tied into copyright law. According to Section 102 of the Copyright Act, the part of a work of architecture that can be protected does not include functional features or design elements, but includes the arrangement of spaces and elements of the design and the general form. Examples of functional structures that cannot be copyrighted are bridges, dams, or walkways. The protection for an architectural work lasts for 95 years from the date of publication. This article highlights the separation between artwork utilizing architecture and the architecture itself, by bringing up the fact that it is not a violation of copyright law for someone to take a photograph or create a painting of a building. The main point of this article is that architects need to have a thorough understanding of copyright law, and must deal with it often in their practice. It is not uncommon for clients to approach an architect with designs that they themselves, or someone else, have created, and the architect must ensure that the work that he or she creates does not infringe on any third party works.

The issue of "substantial similarity" is a large one with regards to copyright and architecture, and this article discusses the standards for substantial similarity, and identifies the test that tries to provide optimal protection for architectural works. It points out that creativity in architecture involves arrangement, selection, and coordination of elements into an original, final entity. The AWCPA, which first extended copyright law to architecture, does not determine the scope of protection to be applied to an architectural work. The author of this article, Daniel Su, points out that one thing that makes it difficult to determine what is substantially similar in architecture is the dichotomous nature of the field, which is both utilitarian and aesthetic. This article also uses the Shine v. Childs case involving the dispute over the Freedom Tower and the Olympic Tower. This case was the first one to involve a monumental architectural work, and is the basis for the "look and feel" test that courts use in cases involving architecture and copyright. In 1999, Shine, an architecture student at Yale, created a design for an "Olympic Tower", to be used as a media center during the 2012 Olympic games. The defendant, David Childs, was on a panel of architects who reviewed the designs for the Olympic Tower, and used a similar design when he constructed the Freedom Tower four years later. The total concept and feel test that the court used involves the comparison of two works without any dissection. This test has been criticized because "concepts" themselves are denied copyright protection, and some designs such as domes, parapets, and arches are unprotectible ideas. The article compares the "concept and feel" test to analytic dissection, which deals with the analysis of specific elements of an architectural work. The discussion of analytic dissection in comparison with the "concept and feel" test with regards to substantial similarity is the basis of this article, and provides detailed information on one of the issues facing architects and their dealings with copyright law.

The Petabyte Storage Infrastructure Project will provide

1. low-cost, petabyte-scale, generic storage via the use of replicated commodity components, tape-less (i.e., disk-to-disk) backup, and a high level of administrative automation
2. a fast cache, to support large computations with intensive local storage
3. thousands of environmental sensors to support experimenting with collecting and storing large sensor-derived environmental data sets.

mentioned in peter morville's library2.0 talk at michigan.

ranganathan -> ncsu -> berkeley? 

Featuring

BLDGBLOG, City of Sound, Inhabitat, and Subtopia

Postopolis! is a five-day event of near-continuous conversation about architecture, urbanism, landscape, and design. Four bloggers, from four different cities, will host a series of live discussions, interviews, slideshows, panels, talks, and other presentations, and fuse the informal energy and interdisciplinary approach of the architectural blogosphere with the immediacy of face to face interaction.

BLDGBLOG (Los Angeles), City of Sound (London),Inhabitat (New York City), and Subtopia (San Francisco) will meet in person to orchestrate the event, inviting everyone from practicing architects, city planners, and urban theorists to military historians, game developers, and materials scientists to give their take on both the built and natural environments. For the past five years, blogging has helped to expand the bounds of architectural discussion; its influence now spreads far beyond the internet to affect museums, institutions, and even higher education. Postopolis! is an historic opportunity to look back at what architecture blogs have achieved - both to celebrate their strengths and to think about their future.

For anyone still looking for a house for the summer, something very exclusive is about to come up in Queens.

Tomorrow, the Maison Tropicale, a small aluminum-paneled house built in 1951 by Jean Prouvé, a French designer and the current court favorite of well-heeled contemporary art and design collectors internationally, is being opened to the public for preview in Long Island City. Christie's, the auction house, will offer it for sale on June 5. The presale estimate is $4 million to $6 million.

See Book: Factories of Imagination

Astana Journal
Kazakhstan’s Futuristic Capital, Complete With Pyramid
By STEVEN LEE MYERS
Published: October 13, 2006
Other countries have built futuristic capitals in remote outposts, Brasília most famously, and other cities have experienced feverish, transformational construction, like Dubai or even the imperial capital that once ruled Kazakhstan: Moscow.  But none have sprung up quite like Astana, from the ambition to create not only a national capital but also a national identity shaped almost exclusively by a single man: the country’s president since its inception, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev.  “The chief architect is really the president himself,” Yerzhan N. Ashykbayev, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said at the ministry’s new building, which opened in April 2005. “Every project, every building is approved by him.”
 

Glazer compiles historical photographs of Philadelphia Theaters.  By Jake M. Chanin

The disparity between the cinematic representation of Casablanca and the real city show the liberties that the filmmakers took to promote the message of US involvement in World War II. While the film has small crowded streets and sets and props that do not reflect anything really found in the city, Casablanca has strong Moroccan and French architecture that was left out of the movie. The filmmakers used set design to help portray a visual style that presented a stronger argument for American audiences. The film used literal shadows to make a great contrast between the dark and light, the good and the bad. The gray areas present in real life Casablanca are conveniently left out of the film. Even though the filmmakers use documentary style footage in some of the scenes surrounding the war, it is only used to define a truth that is supportive to the American war effort.

Casablanca in itself is built as a city defined by creating an image to try and change the reality. The French used strong French architecture when they colonized Morocco to define the country as a French colony. However, where architecture is a slow process to define a region, film can almost instantaneously change the hearts and minds of viewers. The film creates a new Casablanca, one in which the American public can find a unifying idea. It doesn’t matter that the city is not an accurate portrayal, what matters is the effect that the created portrayal conveys. In the same way that architecture can be used to visually define a city, film can be used to visually create and redefine the city. Casablanca presents a stereotyped and allegorical city which was used to win over the loyalties of the American public.

Simon Dixon discusses celebrity homes to great effect in “Ambiguous Ecologies: Stardom’s Domestic Mise-en-Scène.” He makes interesting comments such as how a star’s home tends to reflect the roles he takes and how certain types of stars get certain types of homes; the most interesting of which is Clint Eastwood’s ranch in Caramel and Robert Redford’s in Utah, since both are actors turned academy award winning directors.  

After thoroughly discussing the architecture of the famous, Dixon discuss the importance of the house in one film in particular, Sunset Boulevard. He states that Norma Desmond’s house “lambastes the domestic ecology of Hollywood stardom as alienating and destructive of those it entraps.” Dixon argues that while the film takes place in the late 1940s the Desmond house looks like something out of the twenties; Norma uses her surroundings to relish in her past accomplishments. Through the juxtaposition of Gillis’s bland 40s apartment and Desmond’s lavish old-fashion house, Wilder shows just how different the Hollywood of the silent era was from that of the golden.

Dixon also contends that Sunset Boulevard “can be read as an allegory of the [male] star’s uneasy relation to domestic life.”  Gillis is first overwhelmed by the house and only explores it to the extent in which Norma allows him. Even though, Gillis moves into Desmond’s house, he ends up have no control over the residence. He is never able to adapt to domesticity having never lived in such a lavish environment. Furthermore, Dixon notes that by drowning in the pool Joe is “first figuratively and then literally drowned in the expensive spoils of star domesticity.” In other words, Gillis dies in the most opulent portion of the estate, the pool.