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An art museum criticises the housing crisis

Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2024 10:14 am
by rabia829
Cities around the world are suffering from a lack of affordable housing. The global housing crisis is especially noticeable in low-income areas. An art museum in Arkansas is finding creative ways to help address the problem.
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is a unique case. It is a world-class museum located in the Ozark Mountains, a region that is mostly poor, rural and gcash phone number data negatively stereotyped. The museum only exists because it was paid for by Alice Walton, the billionaire heiress of the Walmart chain of hypermarkets. Crystal Bridges is in the rare position of being well-funded and at the same time surrounded by extreme social problems.

The museum acquired the Fly's Eye Dome in 2016. The dome-shaped house, an experimental project designed in the 1960s, is covered in holes that allow the flow of light and air without compromising structural integrity. It was intended to be an example of affordable, environmentally friendly housing that could be implemented in the future.

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Inspired by the dome, Crystal Bridges commissioned five architectural firms to design prototype homes as part of its Architecture at Home exhibition. Each installment addresses different housing issues. One recreates indigenous architecture, largely lost to colonization. Another is made from recycled aluminum and plastic.

While none of these art exhibitions will solve the global housing crisis on their own, they all draw attention to and spark conversations about the issues plaguing modern architecture.

As mentioned above, Crystal Bridges is funded by the Walmart Foundation. As a company, Walmart is notorious for driving out local stores, destroying the environment, and refusing to give its employees benefits or pay them a living wage. Some people believe the company's prominence in the Ozarks has contributed to gentrification and worsened the local housing crisis.

FUNIBER promotes nature and architecture study programs, including the Master's Degree in Architecture and Urban Planning Projects and the Master's Degree in Climate Change .