Heros and the Cult of the Celebrity

                                                 Heroes and The Cult of the Celebrity

            Many scholarly resources say a hero is a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.  There is one point in this statement that is bothersome; a hero can be a man, women, child, animal, etc.  Heroism is a heroic conduct especially as exhibited in fulfilling a high purpose or attaining a noble end.  (Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 2013)  Nothing in the definition of the act of being a hero does it specify whether that person is a man, woman, child, or even human.  Being a hero is the act of rising above normalcy in a time of need while putting one’s interest aside to the betterment of someone else.

 

            In normal thought, it is tough to correlate heroism with architecture and building design.  Thinking abstractly, pioneers and current facilitators of building safety who are responsible for engineering safety into retrofitting existing buildings and designing new buildings can be considered heroes, especially in times of disasters.   

           Take the tragedy of 9/11 for an example.  While it is obvious that structural failure will result when something as senseless as wrecking planes into a building as protest statements, these tragedies have led to the revision of the International Building Code and many other code updates (Choi, 2011) that will assist Architect, Engineers, and Contractors to build safer structures for all.  Who are the heroes in this example?  Obviously the men, women, and children who lost their lives in this event.  Beyond that, all those have studied the building failures that resulted from 9/11 and all that are making the changes in building design and construction because of this tragic day. 

Freedom Tower

References

Choi, C. (2011, August 31). Twin Towers Forensic Investigation Helps Revise Building Codes, Despite Critics. Retrieved from Scentific American: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=twin-towers-forensic-investigation-revise-building-codes

Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. (2013). Heroism. Retrieved from Merriam-Webster, Incorporated: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heroism