Values, Nostalgia, Sustainability

Our values in the United States are shaped by nostalgia, a desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one’s life. When applied to architecture, this return to the former seems to cause a conflict between the world’s concern with sustainability in the built environment and what people want, defined by their values. However, I believe that the link between values, nostalgia, sustainability, single-ownership, and branding are ever apparent and are congruent within our value systems.
Nostalgia is not about excess, as defined by Paul Tang in class. It is a longing for the past and simpler times, when there seemed to be a clearer definition of what is right and wrong. It defines our comfort zones and often reflects a shared love of people or a place. Nostalgia is not about excess, and neither are our core values. Nostalgia is about simplicity.
Sustainability, on the other hand, is a new age idea. It brings new technologies to our built environment for the good of the future. It provides a support to keep this world a healthy living place for everyone. Sustainability is about efficiency.
The underlying commonality between nostalgia and sustainability is the return to simplicity through efficiency. Sustainability will sell in the United States because it is a return to simplicity, using the values that nostalgia has developed within us. Our values tell us that we want to return to a different time, and this nostalgia sells. Although sustainability may be using the latest technology, it will sell in the United States based on the core values within Americans defined by nostalgia.
The apparent contradictions between nostalgia and sustainability are actually similarities, one must just look past society’s definition of values, such as money and material things, and return to the values that have been defined by nostalgia. By using your own values, you will see the underlying congruency between these ideas. The nostalgia that developed your values is now defining sustainability with in the scope of your values. Therefore, sustainability will easily be sold, is the same fashion as nostalgia.
Selling nostalgia brings up the conflict between single-ownership and branding. However, both are congruent and can exist in the US. Branding sells in America, but when a name carries value, it has become a brand. Therefore, both single-ownership and branding are related and will sell in the US. If an item does not have one or the other, however, it will not sell in the US because our values defined by nostalgia have taught us to rely on this method of identification for reliance, trust, and dependency.
Just as nostalgia and values are congruent, single-ownership and branding are congruent. Our values also identify single-ownership and branding as import, serving as a link between these ideas. Sustainability serves as a similarity to nostalgia, and therefore our values, and can be sold through single-ownership and branding. Therefore, all five ideas of nostalgia, values, sustainability, single ownership, and branding are congruent.

What is Architecture?

Architecture is a creative spirit.
It can exist in one’s mind, on paper, on the computer, in clothes we wear, in buildings we use, in cities we live in.

Architecture is an environment.
It is an environment for people, animals, things, and ideas.
It shapes our daily routines, rituals, movements, and thoughts.


People relate to ideas that have aesthetic appeal, visual intent, or physical necessity.
This relation results in the creation of a culture.

Architecture brings meaning to culture.
It creates a product that encompasses the art of civilization, living, and ideas.
It demonstrates age, history, change, and the nature of man.
It can reflect the evolution, or create the evolution, of a society as circumstances of the environment change.
It has cultural, political, and economic effects that shape how we live and think as individuals, families, and communities.

Architecture addresses social concerns, but must also create a worth in and of itself to achieve significance.

Architecture contains an apparent plan of the object, idea, or system that allows it to function.
Through the manipulation of space, volumes, materials, and light – physical means are achieved.


Architecture is a synthesis of all of former creation, current circumstances, and future conditions.

Sandy Liao - Nostalgia vs. Sustainability

How do you place value on nostalgia, sustainability, and single authorship? Are they congruent thoughts, or disjunctive thoughts?

Humans have a tendency to place value on items that are nostalgic. They collect things that remind them of cherished memories, wanting to keep the lifestyle they grew up with: music, clothing, houses. This action is driven by the notion that they are always surrounded by something secure and loving. It is the way humans decorate their “nest”. For inventors, nostalgia is important because they have value placed upon them based on how their items are valued. Single-authorship describes the fame one person can have when what they have created is widely cherished.

Yet there are some that believe in rejecting the past, thinking that it will hold them back from what the future can bring. These people promote changes- often selling the idea of a healthier, heartier lifestyle. Currently, with the idea of global warming endangering the planet’s inhabitants, sustainability has become widely supported. It caters to the idea of living an earth-conscious lifestyle, lessening pollution and encouraging giving back to nature. Its value lies in a future for the planet, whereas nostalgia has a value in the past.

While the two types of belief- nostalgia and “the new”- may seem disjunctive, they actually have a lot in common. Although they address lifestyle differently, both cater to human needs and wants. In the end, people are still living day to day using something they believe will give them happiness. As improved versions or new inventions are made, all previous items become nostalgic- just memories of the past. The cycle of new and old is constant and necessary for evolution, like yin and yang. People need to have something to look back upon in order to judge how to do things better for the future.

The current debate is that sustainability is so earth-conscious that is lacks the human element of single-authorship, but with time, sustainability will become another relic of the past- a memory of how people first began to save their planet. As newer architecture and better inventions are made, our current form of sustainability will become less valued for its purpose, and more valued for its existence as a prototype. At that point, it will become nostalgic, and people will recognize the creators for their inventions’ value.

Sandy Liao - What Is Architecture?

Before coming to USC, I understood architecture to be the designing of buildings. In a way, I understood it to be art at a larger scale. I saw architecture as easily discerned from other structures because it was never mundane. Instead, it was symbolic of whomever or whatever resided within- a self-expression.

What I didn’t understand then is that architecture is more than just an art. In fact, a building can be architecture even if it looks like a typical housing structure. The term architecture is used to convey a structure that a designer has given expression to. The symbolism can be felt in the procession or the layout of the spaces to become smooth and flowing. A good space is created when it lends ease to the users. The expression can also be shown through visual symbolism, meaning the style of the structure, both inside and out.

While the initial appearance of a Frank Gehry structure may differ from that of a Le Corbusier, the rules are similar. Firstly, it requires a vast knowledge about society. Architects need to know about their clients, and their clients can come from any number of backgrounds. The architect can create a more usable space if they understand more about how their clients’ habits. Secondly, it requires an adaptable mindset, which most architects exhibit. The architect is in charge of design, but also in a position to convince a client or builder to do things for a better outcome. Therefore, an architect must be able to alter designs to suit the location, and change minds to please everyone. Having a good head for construction, building media, and locations can also make things easier.

Now, having been in studio for almost five years, I see architecture is more than just design, or pretty pictures come to life. It is the combination of both design and human lifestyle, with the design becoming a symbol of the idea, and the lifestyle reflected in the procession through the space. Architecture requires a wide array of people types to come together to create something everyone can enjoy. It is sensual in that it is tangible, visual, and everything else sensory. Similar to the gothic cathedrals created by craftsmen long ago, architecture has the embedded human element to it other types of construction lack. It is constructed to fit a purpose, and sculpted to become a symbol of that purpose.

Sandy Liao - Who I Am

I made a list and began a self-portrait, since I didn’t know how to begin to define myself.

Student
Daughter
Sister
Girlfriend
Artist
Illustrator
Middle child of three girls
Educator mother (K-12 tutoring)
Diplomat father (ambassador)
Educator grandmother (kindergarten)
Government official grandfather
Deceased farming grandparents on father’s side
Come from a large family on both ends
Mom’s end is “city”
Dad’s end is “country”
I’m a bit country (spent first years in Tai-Chuang farmland)
Grew up without video games or soda in the house
Grew up wishing I could be as smart as my older sister
Never sought popularity, just friendship
Visual expression (art) was my unique “talent”

Sing a lot
Talkative
Awkward or clumsy
Believe a drawing isn’t done until the name is signed
Can stay in a museum all day
Can draw an entire day
Can examine an art piece for a second or an hour
Communicate best when face to face
Collect drawing implements
(Used to) collect rocks
Dislike 3d programs
Don’t like it when people question my art before it is done
Don’t understand “abstract” art
Don’t appreciate ancient artifacts unless the skill is easily recognized
Enjoy nature and the slow passing of time
Enjoy and employ use of colors and mixing
Enjoy Photoshop
Enjoy being around other people
Enjoy connecting with other people
Enjoy reading Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Enjoy organizing and taking notes
Learn best with encouragement
Like to hum
Like to be nice
Like to observe other people
Love to whistle
Love to use Prismacolor color pencils
Mature slowly intellectually
Nervous around shy people
Not good with technology
Paranoid in empty hallways and parking lots
Put a lot of emphasis on family
Realize that some choices must be made for myself

See myself and art hand in hand
Am worried about what kind of job I can get with my degree
Am categorized by my international status
Don’t have much of a working background
Would like to employ my architecture skills of modeling and packaging somehow
Feel stronger with my art and studio background
Feel weaker due to lack of experience
Feel I am living year to year worrying about stability
Have been feeling depressed and lackadaisical
Am set on incorporating art into my future so I can feel alive
See production design as something I might enjoy, and also be able to do with my skills set
Am very confused at the moment, but trying my best to figure out “myself”

Who am I?

After pondering upon who I am for a long time, I came to a conclusion that it was impossible for me to identify myself without my faith. Without Christ in the picture of my life, there is no purpose or hope; He is my identity. In that note, the goal of my life is to be a light to the world rather than the darkness of the world. As it was mentioned in the Bible, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise the father in heaven,” I think shining the light within myself, reflecting Christ in everything that I do, would be the first priority of my life. As it also says, no one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. I want to expose what I have to offer to this world.
When I first wanted to pursue architecture, I really wanted to become an architect that reflects what God already did as the great architect Himself. It was when I first visited the Grand Canyon that heightened my consciousness to recognize the greatness of God Himself and His creation. Because we are made in the image of God, I believe that the gift of a creative mind is given to all men. All they have to do is search, build, and practice that talent.
Even though I do not know at this point of my life if I want to pursue architecture, I will continue to seek to imitate and follow after God; it is still my desire to create, whether it may be creative design or creative thought. I seek to shine the light that was given from above in hoping that it will be a little help to light the darkness of this world, positively affecting the lives of the people in this world.

What is Architecture and how it applies to me?

I used to have a clear understanding of what the word “architecture” meant, however, as I went through the last 4 years of college, my perception of the word “architecture” has changed and has deepened in meaning. In the beginning I merely understood architecture as a profession or a field of study. However, I came to a realization that it is more than just a profession or a field of study.
I think architecture exists in many different areas of profession, study, and life in general. Architecture can be applied to anyone who create something of their own or from their own minds, which I think applies to everyone in this earth. Everyone makes and creates something everyday, including the tangibles and intangibles. Therefore, I think everyone can be an architect in this sense. For example, everyone is unique in their own ways in creating their own thoughts and actions from their own experiences, backgrounds, and culture. As one constructs a thought and follow through in action, this process I think can be called “architecture.” They are architects of their lives. Coming back to more of a tangible example, I think almost all the designing professions follow what is called “architecture.” I think architecture includes not only physical buildings that can be built, but also includes constructing design patterns in fashion design, constructing product design, constructing a plot or a story for a movie and so on.
In the Bible, and also by many theologians God has been described as the great architect of this earth. I think God is definitely the great architect and because God made us in reflection of his own image that we are given the ability and opportunity to somehow mimic or follow what he has done in a lot of a smaller scale.