U S of A

Dos Passos describes an America which I am not familiar with... not 'American pie' or 'Friends'. It is one when Americans were building their foundation to dominate the world. It is one where all the hard work was being done to create the super power they are now.

Dos Passos's USA describes the characters of Henry Ford, Thorstein Veblen and Frank Lloyd Wright as men that saw the opportunity that the machine revolution provided them. Rather than accepting the farming life of their family and home town, they all felt that they belong to a different place. Given their background, they made financial progress despite their origin. Coming from a family of immigrants, they all had the idea of hard work instilled in their blood.

Based on these characters, it is evident that the machine revolution changed the lives of many people. Some clever enough took the chance and made themselves mega rich. In present day, I can only think of one thing which had such a drastic effect on people. That is the computers and the internet revolution. Is it fair to say that Bill Gates or Michael Dell are modern versions of Henry Ford? These men had major impacts on people's lives. They had the vision to see what people was in need of and they went to do that.

The Heroic Architect

The Fountain Head demonstrates many aspects of the profession. It is one of constant set backs and frustration before eventually succeeding. It is one of heroism and sacrifice.

The image of the architect portrayed in the film is one where the profession plays an important role in politics of the city. He is involved with key people. He is also constantly in the papers and people have an increased architectural awareness. Architecture were a glamorous field in these times. However, just like Howard Roark found out, it is easy to go from genius to the most hated person. Public opinion changes quickly.

In the film, the main character Howard Roark, has very strong ideas about what modern architecture should be. But unfortunately it is not one shared by the majority . He is unable to express his genius ideas. Most people don't get him. He is a person who will not compromise his design for money or fame. He is stubborn and determined. It is a life of sacrifice where he would rather not build anything than build something that did not belong to his ideals. It is an ongoing fight from beginning to end to actually convince people that architecture is about the truth.

On the other hand, there is also the sacrifice which an architect has to make in his personal life. The architect has to accept that love will have to wait and thus needs to fulfil his purpose. Domique Francon, Howard Roark's love interest is one of the few that understands his genius.

The contract which Howard gets into with Gail Wynand, the man who hated his building, is quite similar to making a pact with devil in order for him to succeed.

Close to the end, the court room shot, is reminiscent of the idea of individualism against collectivism. He stands alone arguing and defending his beliefs. It is quite the reflection of the architectural profession in one scene. We are condemned to suffer on our own. We can only hope there is light at the end of the tunnel. Architecture is not for the faint hearted. It is rather made for heroes. People who will not give up... who will not settle for any thing less.

Modernity. at what cost?

Reading Goethe's Faust: the tragedy of development provided me with an unusual insight into the dark world of modernity. Faust craves for a development of himself as well as society. By doing so, he frees other from their own subdued mind. Thus, meaning that for development to materialize, there must be liberation of thoughts and actions. But this freedom of life comes at a cost, one with 'dark and fearful' thoughts. Mephistopheles is Faust mentor in his quest to change the world.

With confidence from Mephistopheles, Faust makes the leap to 'the lover' where he meets Gretchen. She is a girl from a small town with all the purity in the world. On meeting her, Faust takes her innocence and naivety away. She is infected by modernity. In the company of Faust, Gretchen changes to become somebody else. She experiences modernity and all that comes with it. This development lead her to her own destruction. Modernisation has found another victim.

The final metamorphosis, the developer, sees Faust overgrowing his mentor to take charge. However, in his enthusiast and commitment to development, he destroys the medieval house of an old couple and then had them killed to build his tower. Faust completes his transformation to the dark side of modernity. He is blinded by his greed and stubbornness. The author writes further “once the developer had destroyed the pre-modern world, he had destroyed his whole reason for being in the modern world” It is hence true that for the modernity, there can be no future without past.

It is obvious that the author sees development as part of a give and take process. There cannot be development without sacrifice of some some sort. Furthermore, the development that is created has its own termination date where it has to make place for new developments to happen. For some reason, there seem to be an association between evil and modernity.