Invention as a Means of Change for the Enlightened Sculptor/Architect

By Daniel Magyarossy, 1999.

Within the circles of Buddhist faith there exist monks living in Bhutan who believe that there are those, whom after living several lives and reaching a great age, acquire their own enlightenment. These individuals are granted such great wisdom, that they are inwardly compelled to devote their lives to imparting enlightenment to other individuals along the sacred path. It is a simple path consisting of nothing more than a reverence for the intertwined cycles of life abound in the natural world, and a respect for the continuous changes which affect and influence those cycles. In the central regions of their rich landscape, the Bhutani monks liken their enlightened wisemen to the cranes of the marshes that prosper there.

I would like to think that modern man has reached a higher intellectual status than that of the beautifully magnificent crane, but to venture an optimistic assumption would wholly and foolhardily approach one to presumptiousness. In the year 1999, according to the western calendar, this civilization has only just begun to realize the richness and sovereignty of its natural surroundings, and continues to struggle with the enticements of Romanesque decadence. Nearly two thousand years after the inception of that same calendar civilization persists to consider crucifixion, i.e. capital punishment, a socially acceptable means of dealing with those adverse in nature to an otherwise "enlightened" society.

Primitive society has passed down upon us many useful concepts and institutions. To purposefully name one of them: Invention.

An invention, be it physical or ideological, is first formed by a concept, or an idea, for which thought is required in the necessary presence of a skilled and non-sedated individual. A second key factor affecting the likely success of an invention is the accessibility to technological means for producing or disseminating the invention. In ages past, multitudes of inventions were conjured up by great thinkers long before those inventions had the technological capacity at hand to achieve physical culmination. The third key factor, sometimes proving to be the most rigorous to fulfill, is that it fill a political or social niche.

Invention is a tool of change, and can present solutions to problems for the purpose of improving the overall quality of life. Inventions can also be used, questionably, for the accumulation of profit stimulated purely by greed, and detrimentally, for the destruction of life, human or otherwise. Since Antiquity, most inventions have also contributed detrimentally to the destruction of the quality of life in associated areas, for humans or otherwise, and have required yet another or more inventions to counteract the negative effects of the well-intentioned initial invention. In this vein, I present a solution a popular invention in need of refinement, the invention of the modern city. For reasons which will be hereforth elucidated, I refer to it as Laissez-aller Architecture.

My concept states that cities, landscape and architecture must primarily and foremost serve the emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs of man, and in doing so supply him with a sense of fulfillment, enjoyment and worth in his painfully short span of lifetime. In this context, we optimistically assume that by the time society has gathered the prerequisite courage and garnered for itself the required sensibility to embrace my ideals. It has also long forgone its thirst for war, globalization has guaranteed freedom of information and liberty for all Earthlings, and population growth and technology have catalyzed the evolution of Capitalism into a laissez faire form of benign hedonism dominating all levels of society, not withholding America, Inc.

I boldly predict that rising population, increasing means of productivity, and globalization in all of its forms, including technological, ideological and economical, and also the uniform strength of those components worldwide, will nurture a spirit and desire for enjoyment of life. Through the existence of these advances future societies will also be in possession of the political and economical means for instituting these higher standards of living.

My work includes the following pieces, built as architectural models/sculpture:

The Tower of Babel

The Office of Life

Public Works Building of Equality