NEW URBAN ARCHITECTURE! A GOOD CHANGE???

  The picture above shows the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA). This building is located in the heart of Port of Spain. NAPA can be seen as an extravagant structure because of its beauty and the details of the architecture. I personally find this building spectacular as I appreciate the different architectural approach as compared to the surrounding buildings. Not only is this building beautiful but the activities that this building hosts can be termed as beautiful as well. The structure showcases our culture through different activates like theatrical performances and art displaces just to name a few. While my view is a very positive on towards the building, there may be negative views as well. Some people may bring up the point that this building is not representative of Trinidadian culture but is of the culture and values of the Global North.  

According to Tim Hall in the book Urban Geography, this is an era of “competitive globalization” and with this era, come the need for cities to represent it’s economic development. Cities show the growth of the economic sector by constructing extravagant or spectacular buildings within the city. With this in mind, I can make the perception that this is what NAPA may represent within the city, just another extravagant and huge structure to showcase the economic development taking place within Trinidad and Tobago. NAPA is said to embody the national flower, the Chaconia. Is it representative of that?? Is this the injection of culture behind the building?? This is where the question of if this type of development in architecture is a good change or a bad change. NAPA is located around the Queens Park Savannah; this area is surrounded by many different historical buildings. Will buildings like NAPA encourage the destruction of the historical structure to give rise in a constantly developing nation?? Or will these historic buildings be preserved?? These are the issues that come to the surface with the rise development in a nation. And According to Aylin Orbaslic “‘Protectionism’ continues to draw opposition when it is seen as a barrier to development”.

This link below shows information on how contemporary buildings can be incorporated in a historic environment: 
 http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/newsletters/26_2/contemporary.html

REFERENCES

Hall,Tim and Heather Barrett. Urban Geography. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print 

Orbasli, Aylin. Architectural Conservation. United Kingdom: Blackwell Science Ltd, 2008. Print