Belfry - Pointing the Sky - Scattered Thoughts

The architectural expression of human vanity is resumed on skyscrapers. The spiritual need for the existence to evolve, and stand the pressure of the harsh reality is expressed in architectural terms by the belfry. There shouldn't be any controversy in principle, but there is a great dose of non-sens when it comes about the choice of people to live and grow in skyscrapers environment. This trend kills the traditional use of the belfry, the whole church is rather insignificant in the middle of the iron and glass giants. Living up there in a box, shaped out of incompatible materials, is living far from any natural reference of your reality as human. The sky is around you but not for clearing your conscience. From the top of the skyscraper, the city and the sky seem to be under full control, there is no place for self-consciousness, everything is governed by vanity and guided by the illusion of power and safety. Besides, there are more people piled in less land occupied, a big and very lucrative business. Hence, we enjoy luxurious structures as high as the vanity of their owners and somber concrete blocks with rectangular holes for windows as high as the poverty of workers who built the luxurious skyscrapers. Both, rich and poor should take a long ride out of the city for a while... There is for sure a small percentage that never returns... just a small percentage...

The belfry is a noisy traditional religious stuff? You think so? And what if the noisiest and offensive structure is the skyscraper? Noisy because it covers with its volume all other volumes around and dominates all attempts to formate a community or society "out of the box". This is the annoying noise, it sounds loud between your ears without being audible outside. This noise is produced by the architectural imposing impression, and its devastating effect on the judgment ability of the average human is mirrored on the behaving of the inhabitants...

By the other hand, there is more place for growth vertically rather than horizontally. It is a fact that economic miracles are built once for pointing the future. What everybody sees is his/her interpretation of the proposed future. If skyscrapers contribute to the collective good and growth then people will adopt the skyscraper lifestyle. If this contribution is a real fact and not one more social illusion based on the human need of a strong imaginary for maintaining the collective emotional balance, there will be huge cities, immense urban areas, full of resplendent skyscrapers hosting millions of happy citizens.

And what about the belfry? It will survive in the future? A fusion could it be possible? That means the construction of a belfry-skyscraper! Which suppose a church-skyscraper but in some more futuristic architectural design the belfry and the church could be built in a unique set of two in one, following the rules of the dominant marketing directives. It could be a great success and also proof of an efficient multilevel marketing strategy.

I want to notice here that I'm a fan of skyscrapers architecture and engineering. These structures are amazing despite the negative effects that might reserve for a part of humans more sensible to the urbanized environment. Of course, I am, above all, also a fan of the belfry, but I think that living in a belfry is not a piece of cake even if you have an internet connection and a good headset!