Campus Authors: Peter MacKeith, associate director of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and associate dean of Architecture
The report is by Peter MacKeith, associate director of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and associate dean of Architecture.
Contemporary corporate architecture’s impact on communities examined
Soumen Rakennustaiteen Museo (SRM)McDonald’s-Finland Headquarters in HelsinkiHas corporate architecture doomed the city? Over the last century, corporate headquarters — as well as churches, universities and government institutions — have been pillars of the urban environment, embodying the culture, values and aspirations of their societies. Yet today’s corporations — competing in global, open-market economies; distanced and disassociated from the means of production — have increasingly situated themselves on the suburban periphery, replacing civic engagement with simple displays of technological prowess. As a result, “corporations must be seen as potential ‘dissolving agents’ of the cities in which they have chosen to locate,” argues Peter MacKeith, associate director of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, where he also serves as associate dean of Architecture.
European Union enlargement to 25 members may someday challenge U.S. as single superpower
StreeterThe European Union (EU) added 10 new member nations on May 1, enlarging the union to a total of 25 countries with a combined population of 458 million. The U.S., with a total population of 293 million is still the sole political and economic superpower of the world but may yet be challenged by the EU for that status, according to William J. Streeter, a professor of international business at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis.