| Description |
There is a fundamental relationship between formal attributes, experience of place, and regional identity. Architecture should be designed through the understanding of these relationships, which can be further divided into built form, natural form, social interaction, and cognitive processes. In this way an authentic sense of architecture and regional identity can be revealed. The Eco-tourist resort is an exploration of this idea. It will meet the growing niche of the educated tourist seeking truth in experience as an alternative to the "Disneyland" atmosphere of the west created by early twentieth century predecessors. It equates built form and natural form with formal attributes, social interaction with program and path, and cognitive processes with elements of perception. The social interaction between the local and the tourist will inevitably change how each views their identity and the program will address this through the examination of the needs of the eco-tourist culture and local identity. This examination also impacts the site choice, which in turn will have a reciprocal effect on the program and on the built form as well. The culture and architecture of twentieth century tourism has helped define the national view of the west as a region and as a myth. The view of the west was largely idealized and simulacrum architecture was used to help convey this ideal to the consumer. During the early nineteenth century, tourism of the West developed as an elite pastime in the United States due to "the growth of a leisure ethic, the emergence of adequate modes of transportation, and the establishment of unique attractions" (Shaffer, 123). In 1905, the slogan "See America First" was conceived, and in 1906, the See America First Conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah began to establish a new propaganda of the West, where "true" Americans appreciated the natural wonders, ancient ruins, and scenic landscapes of the West. In 1910, the Great Northern Railway adopted this slogan for their own multimedia advertising campaign aimed at attracting tourists to Glacier National Park, selling this natural attraction as the preferred "American" alternative to European travel. The Railway reconstructed and packaged the park with an emphasis on an idealized version of the American frontier and thereby set "a sense of western identity grounded in the intersection between the West as region and the West as myth" (Shaffer, 125). Instead of responding to the true environment, they created a representation of western wilderness intertwined with European architecture; Blackfoot Indian décor combined with Swiss chalet sensibility. "In this way, tourism reshaped the built environment of the United States and transformed the symbolic value of American landscape and in the process, influenced the way in which people defined themselves as American " (Shaffer, 123). Today a new leisure ethic is evolving where vacationers have a different interest in outdoor pursuits. The traveler has the desire to experience the west and its cultures in an authentic state. Ecotourism is a postmodern version of tourism, which consists of responsible travel to an undisturbed environment with the objective of studying and admiring the scenery, flora and fauna, as well as the indigenous culture (Sheller and Urry, 32)". This culture attempt to set themselves apart from the common tourist by choosing destinations and activities that involve education and self-improvement, by creating self-identity through play versus occupation, and by switching from mass tourism to more independent forms of experiencing place. The program reconciles the relationship between the identity of the chosen local culture, Moab Utah, and an imported one, the tourist. Truth and fragmentation of identity are implicit in the new western identity as it both conserves the natural environment and turns it into a commodity. |
