Purposes+of+Architecture+and+Urban+Design

The podcast explains which the possible purposes of architecture are. The woman says that many people think that architecture is only used for bringing shelter to people. It’s true, but that is not the only purpose of architecture. To understand these purposes one has to take into account the origins of architecture that come from socio-cultural factors, climate, technology and economy of the society where the building is placed. Some of the purposes that are explained in the podcast are: to bring shelter to people in their activities and possessions from human, animal and supernatural elements, to establish a humanized and safe place, and to indicate social status. To really understand a building and its purposes one has to see them not only as structures, but as institutions, because they are far more complex than just a structure or a design. .media type="file" key="Purpose of Architecture.wav" width="191" height="94"
 * THE PURPOSE OF ARCHITECTURE.**

The woman in the podcast talks a little about urban design. Some of the purposes of this career are designing spaces, buildings, and groups of buildings that will be used by many people for different purposes. The urban planner has to take into account that it is not only going to be used by these people just now, but he or she has to think about the future and how this future is going to affect the design that he or she created. An urban planner’s job is also to establish the processes that make successful development possible. However we all the time see places that are very badly design, this might be because 84% of planning applications are drawn up by someone that has no design training at all, or because the urban planner only thought about selling the design or satisfying the buildings users instead of satisfying also the people passing by. Urban design as a career has about 25 years old, and it appeals to people that are not interested just in the design of one building or the needs of one user. media type="file" key="Purpose of Urban Design.wav" width="196" height="97"
 * URBAN DESIGN AS A CAREER.**

An architect’s job is to design buildings, but an urban planner’s is to design cities. This is why an urban planner works in a bigger scale than an architect. An architect has to take into account only the needs and purposes of one user; the user of the building he or she is designing. Meanwhile, an urban planner has to take into account the needs and purposes of all the people that will be using the spaces he or she is creating. However an architect and an urban planner have to work equally with subjects like topography, structure, context and pedestrians in order to design their projects. These two careers may have their differences, but an architect and an urban planner have to work hand in hand to have better results in their work. media type="file" key="Architecture vs. Urban Design.wav" width="196" height="98"
 * ARCHITECTURE VS. URBAN DESIGN**

I think Caracas has no big problems in terms of architecture; I don’t think that there are many flaws in that area. However I do think that there is missing some urban planning, because there are some buildings that make no sense where they are placed; I mean they don’t belong. Also in terms of traffic and roads, there is no time in the day that one can go out and don’t find traffic jam everywhere. media type="file" key="Architecture and Urban Design in Caracas.wav" width="205" height="104"
 * ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN IN CARACAS**