Friday, April 15, 2011

The Empire State Building, The Eiffel Tower, and Albert Einstein

In her book, "Packing For Mars", author Mary Roach reveals that many
astronauts suffer from "space sickness". Space sickness results from a sudden loss of orientation in space where up and down don't really exist. The human body gets confused and rebels, causing severe nausea and sometimes nearly incapacitating astronauts.

It seems that humans are hard-wired with a need to know where they are in both space and time, as well as who surrounds them. Without this information, people feel unsafe, confused, and lost. Landmarks help orient people in space, but icons do more because they also represent a culture and its values.

Landmarks are often higher than their surroundings so that they can be seen from a distance and from many directions. Sometimes, they also mark a particular location such as a public square, important intersection, place of historical cultural importance, or natural feature. Certain landmarks achieve iconic status when they come to summarize and symbolize a place, a culture, a worldview, or a history.

Icons have meaning. It can result from design, scale, or location, but achieving it requires that the people it symbolizes eventually come to completely embrace and love the icon itself. However, icons are unique. They exist without peer. The Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, and the Statue of Liberty, among many others, are all examples of landmarks that have become icons. Icons are special.

The Empire State Building can be seen not only from most parts of Manhattan, but also from the outer boroughs and New Jersey. It makes orientation to midtown Manhattan easy. However, it also symbolizes the energy, drive, ambition, and determination that is the spirit of New York City.

The Statue of Liberty symbolizes America, but it is the America that drew generations of immigrants in search of a better life under the values on which the country was founded. That America is as much a concept as a place. The Statue also marks the location of Ellis Island, the entry point for millions. Many American families tell stories of ancestors whose first glimpse of America was Lady Liberty.

The Eiffel Tower captures the spirit and values of the culture and its time. It was the machine age, a time of progress, expansion, and prosperity expressed in delicate and artistic iron tracery, peculiarly French. Who else could have erected such a graceful tower. Who else would shape an entire city to honor it. Where but in Paris could it be located. The Eiffel Tower therefore achieves the rare distinction of serving triple duty, symbolizing not only a city, but also a culture, and even an entire nation.

So what has Einstein to do with all this? Although not the first to pose the idea, Einstein is perhaps commonly thought of as the man who clarified the relationship between space and time. Landmarks and icons help us know where we are in space, and offer perspective on who built them and what was going on in the culture of their time. At their best, icons have so much power that the stories associated with them, the values that gave rise to them, and the spirit of the people who created them take on a life of their own. As a result, iconic structures help shape decisions both in the present moment and the future that results from those decisions. It is why they are so rare and treasured. Such is the power of the icon.

Next: How buildings, including landmarks, help define the public realm.

Ray Brown Urban Design

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