The Myth of sustainable culture : The National Museum of Gems, Metals & Minerals

Author

• Matthew Qual

Files

Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

https://hdl.handle.net/10365/24944

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Rights

NDSU Policy 190.6.2

URI

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Abstract

As Hans-Georg Gadamer explains, because modern society is so focused on specialization, medicine and health have become disjointed from common knowledge. Similarly, sustainability is often unrealizable to the users of a building through their experience. This is due to the specialized application of sustainable technology in the form of complex systems. Such issues are important because architecture has always been meaningfully perceived through the lived-experience of the body. In fact, looking to history, one will find that the root of sustain is Sustinere – To Hold. Is it possible to examine sustainability as both an experiential phenomena and a specialist’s application of technology to a building? When Martin Heidegger defined dwelling, he defined it as a means of sustainable discourse as well as a relation of the body to the surrounding world. Located in Georgetown Colorado, the design integrates sustainable technology into the experience of architecture rather than being an applied formulaic system alone. The building, inspired by the wonder of a gem, acts as a bridge between sustainable practices and the body, the world and greater culture, the individual and the cosmos.

Recommended Citation

Qual, Matthew, "The Myth of sustainable culture : The National Museum of Gems, Metals & Minerals" (2015). Architecture Theses. 310.
https://digitalcommons.ndsu.edu/architecture-theses/310