The Embassy of the Future Recommendations for the Design of Future U.S. Embassy Buildings (1986) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
4 Forces that Will Shape Embassies of the Future
4 Forces that Will Shape Embassies of the Future
Pages 21-28
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 21... ...
are already being felt at State Department posts throughout the world: . the concentration and colocation of user agencies within embassy buildings and compounds; ~ the changing nature of the Foreign Service and the proliferation of classified and unclassified electronic information management systems; ~ the growth in the scope and seriousness of terrorism, espionage, and sabotage; and ~ the need for appropriate architectural expressions of the U.S.
|
From page 22... ...
For example, there is a vigorous program within the State Department that is directed toward the unplementation of new generations of automated office equipment and electronic information handling systems; this effort is taking place, however, without sufficient regard for the ways in which buildings themselves could be altered to accommodate and ease the transition to such systems. Similarly, intensive efforts are being made to upgrade physical and electronic security but, understandably, without sufficient consideration of the ways in which such unprovements might relate to, support, or impede future building functional needs.
|
From page 23... ...
Articulating the nature of these influences and considering how they relate to one another should, in turn, help to establish more coherent attitudes about the nature of the State Department's future buildings. By serving as the basis for a new set of security-conscious building design criteria, an understanding of these forces should help to ensure that future embassy buildings are responsive to new influences by design, rather than by coincidence or by change.
|
From page 24... ...
In Chapter 6, this report recommends changes in the approaches taken in planning the physical relationships among the various activities and functions that are likely to be a part of future embassy compounds. Although this committee did not consider in depth the possibility of including housing for Foreign Service personnel and dependents on future compounds, circumstances may dictate serious consideration by the State Department of including such housing wherever possible.
|
From page 25... ...
In addition, the clerical and administrative aspects of the Foreign Service and overseas State Department operations, from personnel and budget management to consular affairs and word processing, involve the use of electronic equipment and systems that place new demands on and pose new security challenges for embassy buildings. Embassy buildings, then, share a common requirement with other types of buildings being constructed today: They are expected to provide an infrastructure suitable for the support of currently available and rapidly changing automated office and telecommunications systems (as well as some that are on the near horizon)
|
From page 26... ...
Yet, granting and even underscoring the importance of taking such steps as are possible to prevent a recurrence of the tragic events at State Department posts in the 1970s and 1980s, three statements of fundamental importance must be made: 1. Diplomatic relations rest on the premise that the ultimate responsibility for the safety and well-being of Foreign Service personne} lies with the host country and its military and law enforcement agencies.
|
From page 27... ...
APPROPRIATE ARCHITECTURAL EXPRESSIONS OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT PRESENCE ABROAD It is and wiD remain ~rnperative that embassy buildings play a major role in conveying to others an appropriate impression and image of the United States.
|
From page 28... ...
To its commitment to produce buildings of aesthetic excellence and appropriate design must be addled a recognition of the need for increased security requirements for new and existing embassy buildings. The committee supports the State Department's broadened areas of emphasis and concurs with its expressed determination to balance aesthetic excellence tenth increased security for embassy personnel, facilities, and information.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.