The Philadelphia School Deterritorialized 407a
| |
2002.12.17 17:25
Re: a Bemused Tadao Ando observation
I have studied the evolution of Kahn's architecture beyond Kahn since my own architecture thesis 1981, and Ando's Museum of Literature design appears to be a late descendant of Kahn via late 1970s Stirling and early 1980s Isozaki.
Kahn's Levy Memorial Playground designs with Isamu Noguchi (1961-66, unbuilt), and his Dominican Motherhouse of the Sisters of Saint Catherine de Ricci (1965-69, unbuilt) engendered much formal architectural play, a genealogy that goes mostly unnoticed by architectural historians. Much of Predock's, work, for example, especially "reenacts" the Levy Memorial Playground designs.
Interesting how you relate the Museum of Literature to a kind of theme park. It could easily be said that Kahn's formal playfulness was inspired by Piranesi's Ichnographia Campus Martius, an ultimate plan of an ancient Roman theme park if there ever was one.
| |
2009.01.31 16:38
Re: Misc. stuff
I am familiar with the Levy Playground designs--they are featured within the A+U Kahn book I sliced up in 1984, so I really haven't looked at them closely in a long time. I have thought of them when I first saw Predock's work. Back in school I wanted to start doing stuff like that (I had the Kahn A+U since 2nd year) but I also knew I wouldn't be able to get away with it jury-wise, so maybe the inspiration did show up in later designs. Of course, I can't deny that the convent plan has had a huge influence on me.
After seeing Lost this past week I was inspired with a new way to think about Quondam and what I've sort of being doing there already--experiment with architecture within a/the space time continuum. For example, where some building models have already been collaged together, it's not just being playful but also seeing what it's like when architectures from different places and/or different times cross paths. Another example is how the Axis of Life of the Ichnographia matches the Benjamin Franklin Parkway is like where two different space/time architectures actually lock together (hence the Ichnographia Quondam). Anyway, I'm just starting to work on this stuff now, so not much more to mention. I'm just today in the final stretch of nicely redrawing a plan of the Palace of Versailles, and I'm looking forward to seeing how and where that will fit in within Quondam's space time continuum--remember, here a Versailles, there a Versailles, everywhere a Versailles, sigh!
| |
2009.01.31 19:34
Re: Misc. stuff and the best of youth
I always saw that kind of Kahn geometry play as maybe Campo Marzio inspired.
| |
|