Cntemporary Asian Societies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cntemporary Asian Societies - Essay Example For a long tine, Asian countries isolated themselves from the rest of the world trying to keep untouched old traditions and values (Metcalf, pg 6). Thus, since the beginning of the XX century, they have experienced a strong influence on their cultural traditions and building practices. This influence had a negative impact on Asian societies spreading alien cultures and the building crafts (Hawkes, pg 9). The main issue against modern building practices is that Asian societies developed unique building traditions and distinct practices which comply with their needs and regional differences. Asian societies should stick to their own building traditions because they reflect cultural uniqueness and religious beliefs followed by generations. Hinduism, Aryans, Dravidians, Islamic, Christian, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism developed building styles which reflect their unique and distinct beliefs and values. For instance, the earliest surviving monuments of architecture date from the tenth century. Perhaps the first shrine is the Nat Hlaung Gyaung at Pagn, a temple traditionally dated in 931 and one of the few Hindu monuments in the history of Burmese architecture. Even this structure has certain characteristics of Burmese architecture of all periods (Metcalf, pg 23). ... Other temples of this early period at Pagan, such as the Ngakye Nadaun of the tenth century, recall the form of Gupta stupas, such as the Dhamekh stupa at Sarnath (Metcalf, pg 23). Just as these buildings, for all their elaborateness, are the ultimate descendants of old Indian architecture, the typically Burmese technique of lacquer decoration goes back at least to the period of florescence at Pagn in the thirteenth century (Lim, Beng, pg 68). These building have survived for over a thousand years while modern buildings survive only for 80 years. Old building traditions meet geographical peculiarities and climate diversity of Asian societies. All of building traditions meant planning, planning for communities, planning which should take into account architectural amenity as well as practical utility; and every single example of these planned communities like the ample and attractive housing built in numerous Asians cultural centers reflect old styles and geographical peculiarities (Goad et al ph65). Following Hawkes (1996) modern construction and building practices allow only the passive control of climate through built form (pg 34). In contrast, old building traditions (as shading and wind-channelling devices) are quite effective, mitigating solar gain at the hottest times of the day and encouraging useful cross-ventilation (Hawkes pg 45). What is more, they frame and direct views of the surroundings and give depth and relief to the facades. Upon entering the old building, the reticence of the facades gives way to a top-lit, daylight filled entrance court, the first of two such courts. But in old buildings the means of environmental control is clear and the legible (Frampton, pg 14). In sum,

The energy in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The energy in the UK - Essay Example In today’s modern industrialised world energy is almost as essential as basic necessities such as water. A very recent / current example of the importance of energy to our every day lives is the panic buying of fuel due to the closure of BP’s oil pipeline at The Grangemouth refinery in Scotland. It is being shutdown because of a workers strike. The refinery produces 10% of British petrol and diesel and also produces the steam required to power the neighbouring Kinneil that processes the crude oil from 70 offshore fields in the North Sea. British Energy state that; In the UK the major energy sources are coal, oil, gas, nuclear, hydro/other or imported sources. These sources are used either on their own as fuel for machinery and transport, or, to create electricity. The 2003 statistics on national consumption indicate that 46.5% of our energy consumption came from petroleum, 35% was natural gas and 17% was electricity. The diagram clearly shows that usage of coal in electrical power stations has almost halved in a 13 year period whereas the usage of gas has increased dramatically. This is a good indicator of how consumption patterns changed in general. Coal is a fossil fuel which is a finite source of energy. Shortages in coal reserves have forced the closing of many British mines. However, more significantly a moratorium on gas was lifted on gas which encouraged its usage at the expense of coal. Gas has been preferred over coal as it is viewed as being a â€Å"cleaner† fuel and it was also much cheaper than coal. Things are, however, beginning to change again. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has released statistics that indicate that although in 2005 deep mined coal output was down by 24% in comparison to output in 2004 and opencast output was down by 13%, overall, coal consumption was actually up by 2.3% to 61.8 million tonnes. In 2005 34% of all electricity