SCOTT IAN GIL ALILAY BS ARCH 4A

Research on the following topics, definitions, illustrations, write ups and other related
topics:
1. what are the 3 socio cultural basis in the design communities?
SOCIO-CULTURAL BASIS OF DESIGN INCOMMUNITIESI.
INTRODUCTION
A. PROBLEMS WITH MOST OF TODAYS COMMUNITY DESIGNS
Are designers preoccupied with making artistic statements rather than
spaces where people would actually want to be? Community Architecture can be
simply defined as, “architecture carried out with the active participation of the end-
users”. (Wates, Handbook 184) But a lot of people do a lot of complaining about the
architecture profession; p a r t i c u l a r l y i t s a l l e g e d p r e o c c u p a t i o n w i t h
making artistic statements rather than, the charge goes, serving
p e o p l e . T h e i s s u e a t h a n d i s n o t simply the “modern box” aesthetic. The
problem is also that, these structures slack an authentic connection to nature and
the very cultures in which they exist. This, in turn, leaves people feeling
disconnected, isolated and longing for true connections to each other and to their
communities. (Benfield, 2013) While the problem is complex, the solution is simple:
We must bring nature back into architecture. According to Architect Travis Price, “We
are made from nature in nature. We miss the rhythms. We miss the hot, cold.
The lack of isolation by fossil fuels, the human being needs that, just like it needs
smell and taste.” (Gray, 2014)

B. HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN (HCD)

Human-centered design (HCD) is a design and management framework that develops
solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-
solving process. Human involvement typically takes place in observing the problem
within context, brainstorming, conceptualizing, developing, and implementing the
solution. Human-centered design is an approach to interactive systems development
that aims to make systems usable and useful by focusing on the users, their needs and
requirements, and by applying human factors/ergonomics, usability knowledge, and
techniques. This approach enhances effectiveness and efficiency, improves human
well-being, user satisfaction, accessibility and sustainability; and counteracts possible
adverse effects of use on human health, safety and performance.

C.SOCIOCULTURAL SYSTEM
The term "sociocultural system" embraces three concepts: society, culture, and system.
SOCIETY- is a number of interdependent organisms of the same species. CULTURE- is
the learned behaviors that are shared by the members of a society, together with the
material products of such behaviors. SYSTEM- is a collection of parts which interact
with each other to function as a whole. (Kauffman, 1980)
2. Great cities of the past:
A. INDUS VALLEY
Indus civilization, also called Indus valley civilization or Harappan
civilization, the earliest known urban culture of the Indian subcontinent. The
nuclear dates of the civilization appear to be about 2500–1700 BCE, though the
southern sites may have lasted later into the 2nd millennium BCE. Among the
world’s three earliest civilizations—the other two are those
of Mesopotamia and Egypt—the Indus civilization was the most extensive.

B. Where is Mesopotamia?
Mesopotamia is located in the region now known as the Middle East, which includes
parts of southwest Asia and lands around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It is part of
the Fertile Crescent, an area also known as “Cradle of Civilization” for the number of
innovations that arose from the early societies in this region, which are among some of
the earliest known human civilizations on earth.
The word “mesopotamia” is formed from the ancient words “meso,” meaning between or
in the middle of, and “potamos,” meaning river. Situated in the fertile valleys between
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the region is now home to modern-day Iraq, Kuwait,
Turkey and Syria.
C. Aegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze
Age civilizations of Greece around the Aegean Sea. There are three distinct but
communicating and interacting geographic regions covered by this term: Crete,
the Cyclades and the Greek mainland.[1] Crete is associated with the Minoan
civilization from the Early Bronze Age. The Cycladic civilization converges with
the mainland during the Early Helladic ("Minyan") period and with Crete in
the Middle Minoan period. From c. 1450 BC (Late Helladic, Late Minoan), the
Greek Mycenaean civilization spreads to Crete, probably by military conquest.
The earlier Aegean farming populations of Neolithic Greece brought agriculture
to Western Europe already before 5,000 years BC.
D. Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country, tracing its heritage along
the Nile Delta back to the 6th–4th millennia BCE. Considered a cradle of
civilisation, Ancient Egypt saw some of the earliest developments of writing,
agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government.[14] Iconic
monuments such as the Giza Necropolis and its Great Sphinx, as well the ruins
of Memphis, Thebes, Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings, reflect this legacy and
remain a significant focus of scientific and popular interest. Egypt's long and rich
cultural heritage is an integral part of its national identity, which reflects its
unique transcontinental location being simultaneously Mediterranean, Middle
Eastern and North African.[15] Egypt was an early and important centre of
Christianity, but was largely Islamised in the seventh century and remains a
predominantly Sunni Muslim country, albeit with a significant Christian minority,
along with other lesser practiced faiths.
Modern Egypt dates back to 1922, when it gained independence from the British
Empire as a monarchy. Following the 1952 revolution, Egypt declared itself
a republic, and in 1958 it merged with Syria to form the United Arab Republic,
which dissolved in 1961. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, Egypt
endured social and religious strife and political instability, fighting several armed
conflicts with Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973, and occupying the Gaza
Strip intermittently until 1967. In 1978, Egypt signed the Camp David Accords,
 officially withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and recognising Israel. The country
continues to face challenges, from political unrest, including the recent 2011
revolution and its aftermath, to terrorism and economic underdevelopment.
Egypt's current government, a semi-presidential republic led by Abdel Fattah el-
Sisi, has been described by a number of watchdogs as authoritarian or heading
an authoritarian regime, responsible for perpetuating the country's poor human
rights record.

E. Greece,[a] officially the Hellenic Republic,[b] is a country in Southeast Europe. It

is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads
of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with Albania to the
northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the
northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the
west, and the Sea of Crete and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has
the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin, featuring thousands of islands.
The country consists of nine traditional geographic regions, and has a population
of approximately 10.4 million. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city,
followed by Thessaloniki and Patras.

Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization, being the birthplace

of democracy, Western philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political
science, major scientific and mathematical principles, theatre and the Olympic
Games. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various
independent city-states, known as poleis (singular polis), which spanned
the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Philip II of Macedon united most of
present-day Greece in the fourth century BC, with his son Alexander the
Great rapidly conquering much of the ancient world, from the eastern
Mediterranean to India. The subsequent Hellenistic period saw the height
of Greek culture and influence in antiquity. Greece was annexed by Rome in
the second century BC, becoming an integral part of the Roman Empire and its
continuation, the Byzantine Empire, which was culturally and linguistically
predominantly Greek.
The Greek Orthodox Church, which emerged in the first century AD, helped
shape modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the
wider Orthodox world. After falling under Ottoman rule in the mid-15th century,
Greece emerged as a modern nation state in 1830 following a war of
independence. After European powers initiated prolonged periods of monarchial
rule by a foreign family, the country fell to a military junta in 1967.
Subsequently, the junta collapsed in 1974 and Greece returned to democratic
governance, which has continued to this day. The country's rich historical legacy
is reflected in part by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
F. Rome (Italian and Latin: Roma [ˈroːma] ( listen)) is the capital city of Italy. It is
also the capital of the Lazio region, the centre of the Metropolitan City of Rome,
and a special comune named Comune di Roma Capitale. With 2,860,009
residents in 1,285 km2 (496.1 sq mi),[2] Rome is the country's most
populated comune and the third most populous city in the European Union by
population within city limits. The Metropolitan City of Rome, with a population of
4,355,725 residents, is the most populous metropolitan city in
Italy.[3] Its metropolitan area is the third-most populous within Italy.[4] Rome is
located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio
(Latium), along the shores of the Tiber. Vatican City (the smallest country in the
world)[5] is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only
existing example of a country within a city. Rome is often referred to as the City
of Seven Hills due to its geographic location, and also as the "Eternal
City".[6] Rome is generally considered to be the "cradle of
Western civilization and Christian culture", and the centre of the Catholic
Church.[7][8][9]
Rome's history spans 28 centuries. While Roman mythology dates the founding
of Rome at around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making
it a major human settlement for almost three millennia and one of the oldest
continuously occupied cities in Europe.[10] The city's early population originated
from a mix of Latins, Etruscans, and Sabines. Eventually, the city successively
became the capital of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman
Empire, and is regarded by many as the first-ever Imperial city
and metropolis.[11] It was first called The Eternal City (Latin: Urbs
Aeterna; Italian: La Città Eterna) by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century
BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy.[12][13] Rome is
also called "Caput Mundi" (Capital of the World). After the fall of the Empire in the
west, which marked the beginning of the Middle Ages, Rome slowly fell under the
political control of the Papacy, and in the 8th century, it became the capital of
the Papal States, which lasted until 1870. Beginning with the Renaissance,
almost all popes since Nicholas V (1447–1455) pursued a coherent architectural
and urban programme over four hundred years, aimed at making the city the
artistic and cultural centre of the world.[14] In this way, Rome became first one of
the major centres of the Renaissance,[15] and then the birthplace of both
the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors, and
architects made Rome the centre of their activity, creating masterpieces
throughout the city. In 1871, Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy,
which, in 1946, became the Italian Republic.