Educate Yourself for Tomorrow

[Mzsassy]

Since the beginning of civilization, mankind has built larger and taller buildings/monuments. From Mayan pyramids to castles in Europe, every civilization takes pride in its individual marker of success. In America, that marker is the modern skyscraper. At the end of the 19th century, commercial architecture first exhibited the distinctive features that would define Modernist architecture. Designers like Louis Sullivan were trying to create a national American identity through their buildings, perhaps culminating with the World Trade Center towers’ in the 1970s.


What does this American symbol, the American skyscraper, actually symbolize – to Americans and to the world?

[flaxman]

These are wonderful postings, Mzsassy. You can tell quite a bit about civilizations from their architecture. For example, the Greeks welcomed their gods into their lives through their temples. The Christians of the Middle Ages through their cathedrals looked to their God in the Heavens. I'm afraid that our sky scrapers are more like the Tower of Babel except with the modern twist of replacing God with scientific materialism as our complete belief system.
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Andrew Flaxman
Director
Educate Yourself for Tomorrow