Analyzing Context

In the following blog post I will analyze the context of my public debate using questions from Writing Public Lives.

t-mizo. "untitled." 4 March 2013. Public Domain. 

The debate I am studying, the controversy over the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, has a core school of thought that Zaha Hadid should have had her proposal used for the Olympic stadium. In a big picture view, it can be debated that the architects are to blame for failed plans and budget crisis. However, architects believe that they try to fit the perameters of each project and it is the mismanagement of the client and outside factors such as material cost increases and contracting companies that affect the success or failure of building proposals.

It is agreed that both sides, the client and the architects, have control over what parameters should be set for the building plan. However, when a building plan needs to be scratched over something such as public outrage over the design of the building, no one is to blame but the architect. It is the architects responsibility to design within the cultural and historical aspects of the site he or she is given to work on.

In this specific controversy, Japan is facing cultural obligations as well as monetary concerns. Japan did decide to hire an architect that is from a different country, so they are to blame for the public outrage in Japan over Hadid's nationality. However, Zaha Hadid has a good point when considering that she was hired to present her own designs, and they should be considered as they could have chosen another architect.

For my argument about the issue, I will take the stand that it is the architects responsibility to fit the parameters set by the client and that Zaha Hadid had failed to present a stadium proposal that fit the parameters, it was only right to remove her from the project. The perspectives from Japan that the  project was over budget and didn't fit the cultural design aspects that they wanted to acieve will help my argument.

My argument will fail when considering Zaha Hadid's position on the argument. She did proposa a building that while expensive will last a long time and be of high quality. However, it is hard to overlook that it would be the most expensive stadium built in history. Additionally, Japan mismanaged their side of planning, so they are still in hot water.

REFLECTION:
After reading Nick and Dylan's blogs, I learned that we all have similar controversies and we have a complete understanding of the context surrounding them. I really appreciated how Nick was already thinking ahead of how he could use counterarguments in his essay to discredit one side to help his argument. Dylan kept his blog short but concise on his ideas and it was easy to follow.