Modern Male Principles At Work in Arab World Architecture

Blogging into a post I wrote in Las Vegas in Aug 2007 Madewell’s Alexa Chung Say ‘No’ Las Vegas Style, I smiled at the Flickr photo in my Las Vegas photo search.

The photo is not of the Las Vegas Bellagio fountains, but of the new Burj Khalifa, whose fountains are 25% larger than the Bellagio’s in Las Vegas, according to Flickr’s EVø.

Today this ‘my fountains are bigger than your fountains’ macho, Modern-values photo is ironic, given the temporary closing for unscheduled maintenance of the Burj Khalifa’s observation tower.

My purpose is not to rehash the story or criticize the Burj Khalifa in any way.

I’m writing only to say that  I was convinced — and advising clients —  that the world was headed for a major meltdown. Arriving in Las Vegas in Aug 2007, I never felt so empty in America.

The symbolism of these grand structures reminds us of man’s capabilities and also his shortcomings. I say ‘men’ because this has been your show to date, guys. Do any of us doubt that there’s more to come? We all know we’re not done yet, having played with monopoly money for the first decade of the 21st century.

As men reaches higher for the sky — given their tendency to conquer nature — She seems to be saying ‘not so fast’, throwing men a few Cultural Creative curve balls of her own.

EVø on FlickrHistorically, those values haven’t mattered much to the men who build skyscrapers. Mind you, I have nothing about economically and environmentally-efficient tall buildings. They can often be the best use of space, and I love the views.

My point concerns the Modern need to build them taller than the next guy’s.

Will female principles gain any traction in our 21st century world? The jury is out, although many futurists and pundits say ‘yes’.

The newly evolving values group called Cultural Creatives are 65% women, with mindset less about conquering and more about saving the planet.

If men are motivated by ideology at all cost, including nuclear war, women prefer to keep the ground fertile and babies with full stomachs. Women are far more pragmatic than men, which isn’t at all what I was told growing up.

Back then, women were the irrational ones, not men. Reading all these ‘think tank’ papers about how women aren’t ideologues like men, but executers and negotiators, I wonder why this tendency was considered a mental liability and sign of inferior intelligence in my mother’s generation.

I don’t see the road ahead so clearcut, in terms of female principles. It all depends on how many men become turncoat Cultural Creatives or born-again Traditionals who hook up with Cultural Creatives.

In fact, it’s men who are advancing this female-centric vision in record numbers. You are now a small majority of Anne of Carversville readers, so I know there’s hope for humanity in your hands — and mine, too. No way are you going without me this time, gentlemen.

Back to who has bigger fountains, It would be easy to say that New Yorkers are learning to live with less and we’re jealous of Dubai. It’s true that some Manhattan Moderns are green with envy of the new gold coin being minted with the Burj on one side.

Still, this shift to Cultural Creative values is global, not a just make-me-feel-better tearjerker in declining Western countries.

India will be a prime player in the redefinition of visible success and the mixing of old and new thinking about money and wealth.

Any country devoted to the race for bigger fountains than America’s is probably operating on the same Modern values that created the global financial crisis in the first palce. Female values have had little credence in the Middle East, no matter what the PR folks write about inspirational, feminine flowers. 

‘The Lament for Icarus’ by Herbert James DraperIf India builds still bigger Bellagio fountains than the ones at the Burg Khalifa, which are bigger than the ones in Las Vegas, let’s just all call it a day.

Please forgive the unintended Global Futures digression today. I just couldn’t resist writing, when updating a bad-ass post on the lack of soul of Las Vegas and Flickr delivers me the Burg Khalifa. Given our preexisting relationship and the ton of traffic I had this week, with the closing of the observation deck, I just had to comment.

Goodness knows we all hope the Burg Khalifa observation deck elevators reopen on Sunday, that the building gets rented and Dubai prospers. We need global stability not more economic trauma. 

Icarus died a long time ago, flying too close to the sun. One Greek God meltdown is enough to last a lifetime. Anne

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