Reading Response 12

Columns Around the World

          It all started with Greek architecture as Roth claimed when he said that 20th century machines possessed the same elegance of form and functions as the Pantheon (p. 530). From there, people have been looking back in time to study the architecture in Greece and to look at how they can adopt the columns for their own purposes. For example, in the Villa Savoye, the columns "lifted [it] free off the earth", which in return, made it seem lighter and also allowed for the 20th century automobiles becausethe turning radius of an automobile determined the curvature of the glass wall of the ground floor..."(Roth p 531-532).  Even in India with the Ghettinad House, the same integrating of columns was happening but for a different reason. the Europeans were taking over the Indian culture and architecture, but it was time to fight back quietly."Designed to look like European on the outside, they were on the interior distictly more local, with a touch of the Indonesian in feel and design" (Ching 673).  Back in Europe, the opposite was happening. Germany wanted to relate their culture back to Asia through architecture. The Yenidze Tabakfrabik "bloomed forth in an Oriental style, even using simulated minarets and a glazed dome to conform to the branding of its cigarettes", (Ching 702). the reason why Germany wanted to relate back to the east is because cigarettes was seen as a cancerous and dangerous products, whereas in Asia, it was used for calming and medicinal purposes and they wanted to relax the people passing through to disguise the dangers of smoking.