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| photos courtesy of cnn.com |
For thousands of years, mankind has designed objects to fit our utopian vision of mastering nature. A landmark moment in the history of design occurred on October 26, 2010, when the Three Gorges Dam, the world's biggest dam became filled to capacity, nearly reaching it full generating capacity of 84.7 billion kilowatt hours. A mega project that took decades to become realized, the design of the dam has now fulfilled its utopian functions of navigation, power generation, flood control, and water diversion.
Flood control was one of the most important needs this structure addresses: until its construction the Yangtze River Region had experienced some of the worst floods ever recorded, a periodic catastrophe that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed millions of acres of farmland over the last century. The construction of this dam ensures more stability for its millions of residents and fertile acres of farmland.
Now that the dam is storing water, behind its massive miles long walls, this water can be diverted to the more arid north, reducing the threat of drought and famine and increasing their capacity to grow crops.
Another utopian benefit of the dam is the dozens of shipping locks and lifts on the dam designed to increase shipping safety. Before, the frequent floods made navigating the Yangtze river was too dangerous. Now navigation and transport of goods along the Yangtze river is increasing,cutting transportation cost and rejuvenating the economy.
One of the biggest benefits of its design is the massive amounts of power it generates, reducing China's greenhouse gas emissions, which are the biggest in the world, and allowing China to depend less on burning coal and fossil fuels and more on hydro power.
All these benefits were the intended functions of the design of the dam seem to have been realized, a design that is truly utopian in that it aims to improve life for Chinese society as a whole. However a significant number of consequences such as the displacement of millions of people to make way for it, the destruction of many cultural and geological relics, the potential for landslides, a potential threat to nation security, and a potential for catastrophic consequences if the dam should break is unavoidable. Though this beautiful, powerful design aims to be utopian, drawbacks are inevitable. In a way, all design connects back to the human desire to change our environment to fit our utopian vision, and one must to decide whether the benefits of our designs outweigh their costs before society has to pay for them.
Flood control was one of the most important needs this structure addresses: until its construction the Yangtze River Region had experienced some of the worst floods ever recorded, a periodic catastrophe that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed millions of acres of farmland over the last century. The construction of this dam ensures more stability for its millions of residents and fertile acres of farmland.
Now that the dam is storing water, behind its massive miles long walls, this water can be diverted to the more arid north, reducing the threat of drought and famine and increasing their capacity to grow crops.
Another utopian benefit of the dam is the dozens of shipping locks and lifts on the dam designed to increase shipping safety. Before, the frequent floods made navigating the Yangtze river was too dangerous. Now navigation and transport of goods along the Yangtze river is increasing,cutting transportation cost and rejuvenating the economy.
One of the biggest benefits of its design is the massive amounts of power it generates, reducing China's greenhouse gas emissions, which are the biggest in the world, and allowing China to depend less on burning coal and fossil fuels and more on hydro power.
All these benefits were the intended functions of the design of the dam seem to have been realized, a design that is truly utopian in that it aims to improve life for Chinese society as a whole. However a significant number of consequences such as the displacement of millions of people to make way for it, the destruction of many cultural and geological relics, the potential for landslides, a potential threat to nation security, and a potential for catastrophic consequences if the dam should break is unavoidable. Though this beautiful, powerful design aims to be utopian, drawbacks are inevitable. In a way, all design connects back to the human desire to change our environment to fit our utopian vision, and one must to decide whether the benefits of our designs outweigh their costs before society has to pay for them.
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-26/world/china.three.gorges.dam_1_three-gorges-dam-state-media-worst-floods?_s=PM:WORLD
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