tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58363512009-10-28T14:01:38.946-04:00Urban Sprawl, Walmarts, and Mobile Homescwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1101669923401775802004-11-28T14:24:00.000-05:002004-11-28T14:25:23.403-05:00

I believe the commodification of architecture is inevitable as many others have pointed out. New methods of non standard production or mass customization point towards marketing the individual. Imagine potential home owners scanning through a catalogue of home styles, each associated with a celebrity designer. With the push of a button, the style is chosen and the parametrically

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1101669868952153352004-11-28T14:23:00.000-05:002004-11-28T14:24:28.953-05:00

So where do I see Wal-Mart and all the big box retailers going? As I have said before, the competition will turn to the race for the bottom as retail giants gather their efforts to compete in volume. This practice is entirely against the pillars of capitalism. For the government to sit back and watch and in some cases encourage the abuse of consumers in the name of corporate profits is

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1093312267247567232004-08-23T21:50:00.000-04:002004-08-23T21:55:09.950-04:00

Will architecture evolve or devolve in this hyper-consumerist climate? This country’s experiment in growth has escalated beyond the spectrum of what is acceptable on nature’s terms. The degradation of the biosphere and ethno-sphere is clearly reflected in the actions of industrialized nations. The speed combined with the damaging effects of over-consumption is forcing us to adapt and

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1093310042407630772004-08-23T21:13:00.000-04:002004-08-23T21:19:59.203-04:00

UNIVERSE NOTHINGNESS PHILOSOPHY CRIME RELATIONS RETALIATION ARCHITECTURE COMMERCE DOGS CATS RAIN MOON NIGHT FOLLOWING DREAMS BROKEN SHATTERED MOVING ACCELERATING DIFFERENCES SOAR CLIMBING LIFE DEDICATION ENERGY LOYALTY CULTURE WALMART SPRAWL HIGHWAYS CARS FORD MASS FOOD STARVATION-SLAVERY TRAFFICKING DOOM GAMES COMPUTERS INTERNET BOYCOTT NETWORKS SHARING REVOLUTION CHE OCEANS DEEP SEA

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1092240816627512542004-08-11T11:19:00.000-04:002004-08-30T11:16:28.070-04:00

At first glance most Wal-Marts are the same. Their facades are uncanny and their interiors follow strictly enforced guidelines of product placement. Merchandise is spread across up to 150,000 square feet in, from what I’ve noticed, 4 carefully selected configurations. Similar things can be said about any big box retailer. Their architecture is unmistakable. Is this the architecture of

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1091908037964071272004-08-07T15:46:00.000-04:002004-08-07T15:47:17.963-04:00

Did anyone before Sam Walton ever imagine that lowering the margins of merchandise will lead to profits? It runs completely in the opposite direction of the foundations of capitalism. Profits, in the tradition market, are made when retailers are able to create larger margins of profits on their goods, hence the antitrust laws which prohibit monopolies, which in turn would allow a single

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1091906701766088812004-08-07T15:20:00.000-04:002004-08-07T15:25:01.766-04:00

This perverse cocktail of politics, money, culture, and freedom orbit each other chaotically as the masses march in sync to the hypnotic beat. Media influence, propaganda, politics reach down into cultures with the veil of freedom coercing the globe to line up to be fed the bytes of ethics and values. Is architecture fluid enough to conform, react to or battle the pressure?

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1091658125274750862004-08-04T18:20:00.000-04:002004-08-04T18:22:05.273-04:00

The so called Wal-Mart culture relies on the sameness of its stores. Its advertising targets the low to mid income families who find comfort in the sameness and predictability of cheapness in each store. Stores provide a one stop solution to shopping, providing everything from groceries to bicycles at the lowest prices in town, making Wal-Mart the first choice for many shoppers. Each town

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1091657994392526382004-08-04T18:16:00.000-04:002004-08-04T18:19:54.393-04:00

My travels have ended and the hope is that I could capture the feelings and thoughts that have found a place in my mind through writing, moving and still images. The joy, sadness, and madness of this great experimental country have expanded my vision of how life in this country should and could be. Unfortunately, I have answered fewer questions than I had sought out. So as one adventure ends

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1090779388131694542004-07-25T14:13:00.000-04:002004-08-23T21:57:09.096-04:00

It's torn cities apart from Inglewood to Chicago and engulfed the entire state of Vermont. Now the conflict's gone national as a presidential campaign issue, with John Kerry hammering the megaretailer for its abysmally low wages and Dick Cheney praising it for its "spirit of enterprise, fair dealing and integrity." This could be the central battle of the 21st century: Earth people versus the

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1085973975224476342004-05-30T23:13:00.000-04:002004-08-23T21:57:54.163-04:00

This is a masterpiece by a true literary genius: please read on! -------------------------------------------------------- Published on Wednesday, May 12, 2004 by In These Times Cold Turkey by Kurt Vonnegut Many years ago, I was so innocent I still considered it possible that we could become the humane and reasonable America so many members of my generation used to dream of. We dreamed of

Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07035036436368020985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1085940467556722832004-05-30T14:07:00.000-04:002004-08-23T22:09:17.903-04:00

Excerpt from NY Times, May 30, 2004 "AMERICAN DREAMERS | THE BUDGET SUITES Seekers, Drawn to Las Vegas, Find a Broken Promised Land By DEAN E. MURPHY AS VEGAS, May 29 — South on Las Vegas Boulevard, well beyond the casino-scraped skyline, there is a three-story hotel where tourists seldom go. The parking lot is sprinkled with U-Haul trucks and trailers. A school bus stops at the front office. A

senatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096405340418333053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1084410302480512822004-05-12T21:04:00.000-04:002004-08-23T22:09:56.660-04:00

A friend emailed me the recent article in Metropolis Magazine (June 2004 issue). The article describes Wal-Mart’s architectural practice as a force that could change our landscape. In recent years Wal-Mart has become architecturally flexible, accepting local archetypes. It holds hope for big box architecture. The fear in Wal-Mart’s willingness to alter its classic big box image is that it may

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1084410145472500522004-05-12T21:01:00.000-04:002004-07-22T14:14:23.560-04:00

Washington, MI Yesterday’s encounter was very familiar. A supersize retailer was built a mile away from this existing stripmall, relocating the center of commerce as herds of big boxes caught on and moved in. The small grocery store’s parking lot was nearly empty. Upon entering, the poorly stocked shelves speak for themselves. Many shelves were completely empty and single items often stood on

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1083558518938148972004-05-03T00:28:00.000-04:002004-05-03T00:32:59.920-04:00

Denver, CO Traveling from Wal-Mart to Wal-Mart has become quite mundane and stressful, as the amount of time spent of the road wasn’t properly compensated by the dull reality so many suburbs exist within. Each city held its own uniqueness, but the outer stretches of asphalt were always consistently the same. . . Mcdonald’s, Shell, Wal-Mart, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Lowe’s, etc. What had become

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1082745917720806192004-04-23T14:45:00.000-04:002004-04-23T14:49:26.546-04:00

I think it is essential that when we talk of a new tribalism, the methods of connectivity are reconsidered. It is also important to note that all virtual modes of interactivity lead to the eventual physical connection or remain as a simulation of what is physical. Physical interaction may always be the quickest, strongest, and the most familiar, but greater leaps of interaction take place

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1082700211851721162004-04-23T02:03:00.000-04:002004-04-23T15:23:23.653-04:00

New photos link on the sidebar! Post your images of urban sprawl by sending them to urbansprawl.upload@buzznet.com

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1082694969059564192004-04-23T00:36:00.000-04:002004-04-23T00:40:17.030-04:00

Chris, your vision is a beautiful one. In light of your response, I take back what I said earlier about nomadic societies having less of a tangible identity than domestic ones. It must be a personal bias. The tribal activities that we encounter in the animal kingdom also tend to be nomadic, even if they occupy territories. It seems like the closer one is to sustainance survival the more

Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07035036436368020985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1082634194360676992004-04-22T06:18:00.000-04:002004-04-22T07:50:30.686-04:00

I appreciate very much the commentary that Che-wei has provided about the sprawl he has encountered, and I offer simply an idea that I could only have been inspired to on the road. For one, I love living nomadically and it has surpassed my expectations in many ways, yet the expense of it is evasive of most of my peers and contemporaries. So the challenge I have placed upon myself is to devise a

Christopher DeVinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1082523963611653052004-04-21T01:06:00.000-04:002004-04-23T00:35:36.513-04:00

Albuquerque, NM Flagstaff, AZ Las Vegas, NV Henderson, NV San Bernardino, CA Los Angeles, CA It seems, given the opportunity, every city in this country will sprawl. Albuquerque, Flagstaff, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and its neighboring Henderson all have accelerated in claiming the flat landscape. The intersections of major freeways are now the points of interest instead of city street corners.

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1082496891332812492004-04-20T17:34:00.000-04:002004-04-23T00:23:19.716-04:00

I've been tinkering with an idea for years now. It is steeped in the all-encompassing and seemingly ineffable topic that seems to be the premise of Freedom in Familiarity. The familiar is rooted in the family, the oldest tribe. And as the family takes a back seat in the formation of humanity's perception of what is and what should be, the familiar takes over. Jeanee and Chris strike many of

Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07035036436368020985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1081660418418190692004-04-11T01:13:00.000-04:002004-04-11T01:55:39.653-04:00

In California, Wal-Mart Hits a Wall more articles

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1081659979753244532004-04-11T01:06:00.000-04:002004-04-11T01:57:24.013-04:00

April 10, 2004 Dallas, TX After many visits to Wal-Mart centered towns, Dallas was refreshing. In an effort to revitalize its downtown, downtown living spaces are being heavily marketed. It seems the city still struggles to lure residents to spend time in its downtown area during the off hours and weekends. Although the downtown area is surrounded by highways, creating a clear divide between

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1081569278408017822004-04-09T23:54:00.000-04:002004-04-10T00:29:55.700-04:00

April 9, 2004 Bossier City, LA Bossier City seems as if it is reaching its holding capacity. What was once a small military town has boomed into a 6 Wal-Mart city. It seems as though Wal-Mart literally paves the way for other large retailers, by replacing local malls and small business along the boulevards and intersections. The sprawl becomes apparent when you see big box retailers at any

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5836351.post-1081311049331153442004-04-07T00:10:00.000-04:002004-04-08T02:51:57.200-04:00

April 5th, 2004 Stockbridge, GA The Wal-Marts in the Atlanta area lie on the outskirts of the city. Of the 30 or so Wal-Marts / Sams Clubs in the Atlanta region, 2 are within the city of Atlanta. As one of the worst sprawling cities, Atlanta’s big box retailers have managed to support the sprawling growth. Pollution from commuting vehicles have become so bad, the government has stepped in

cwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712571668570249462noreply@blogger.com