Files
Date of Award
2022
Document Type
Thesis
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/10365/32936
Publisher
North Dakota State University
Rights
NDSU policy 190.6.2
URI
https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf
Abstract
Around the world, confirmation of the deterioration of our planet’s ecosystem is evident. It’s become so common that we are no longer disturbed by the incineration of ancient rainforests and depletion of drinkable water and breathable air. History shows that ancient humankind always saw themselves as fundamentally intertwined with Nature and understood that a balanced co-existence was vital for survival. However, as humankind advanced, we have severed ourselves from this life-giving force perceived in the rituals and symbols in the traditional world, pursuing instead an intellectualized agenda of productivity which has had a tremendous impact on our treatment of “Nature.” How can we begin to weave ourselves back into this delicate fabric from which we originated to awaken an emotional and cognitive empathy for the unique planet we call home? Placed in the sensitive climate of Australia to frame the devastation of our neglected planet, this Natural History Museum and Inexhaustible Energies Laboratory also reforms the way humankind views its entanglement with Nature by creating an interface with the cycles and processes intrinsic to Nature itself. Various historical perspectives showing shifts in our cultural understanding of the world are embodied in the programmatic unfolding of spaces in the attempt to weave us back into the fabric of a living, feeling Nature through architecture and language.
Recommended Citation
Guck, Trevor, "The Planetary Rift: Awakening the Senses to the Necessity of Nature" (2022). Architecture Theses. 148.
https://digitalcommons.ndsu.edu/architecture-theses/148