2016.11.01 09:17
Long derided by architects, Prince Charles' model town Poundbury might not be all that bad after all
Just for the hell of goals and ethics of culture and art...
2006.02.14 10:17
non-event cities
Are "events" now-a-days actually well masked advertisements?
Is "history" now-a-days a record of well masked advertisements?
Are "non-event cities" now-a-days the bulk of reality?
Is there a reality to "architect as event planner?"
2006.02.14 11:23
non-event cities
There used to be many stores in Philadelphia just like I. Goldbergs. The quondam Bond Linen on 5th Street in Olney was exactly like I. Goldbergs, except for bedding, etc. And I wonder how many people still remember South Street before it became "South Street"--I still vividly remember going shopping there with my parents for a leather coat for my brother back in the late sixties--there were several blocks of men's clothing stores, and the salesmen would literally grab you on the street drag you into the store. Quite the 'event'.
2006.02.14 15:24
non-event cities
buzzwords: skyrocketing, payoff, edginess, branding a city, nodding to nostalgia, cave-in, bilbao effect
2006.02.14 15:59
non-event cities
...is it a reality now-a-days that only architecture by star architects will even generate buzz? Who exactly is benefiting most from the buzz, from the masked advertisements?
2006.02.14 18:43
non-event cities
When I was very little, probably like 4 years old in 1960, about once a month on Friday nights my parents would take me and my brother to "the south." I can still vividly remember my first trip there because it seemed like we went to Hell. We were first greeted by multiple barrels in the street with open flames coming out their tops, and lots of noise and smells and trash everywhere, and there were dead animals all over the place, I mean dead fish and dead rabbits and dead chickens, and I got really afraid when I saw my father going into a big dark room with dead pigs and cows hanging in it. Of course, my older brother was no help because he made me touch the dead animals as we walked by them.
After several trips my brother and I put up such a fuss that we were allowed to stay home, and I never wanted to go to "the south" again.
Fifteen years later in my first year of architecture school, the teachers wanted us students to learn and experience the city, "and everyone should go to the Italian Market in South Philadelphia, it's vibrant and lively."
....
Just as a coincidence, I currently reading Žižek's Event: a philosophical journey through a concept (2014). On the front cover it says, "Master of the counterintuituve observation." And on the back it says, "Few thinkers illustrate the contradictions of contemporary capitalism better..." Hey, remember the full title of A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism & Schizophrenia? I'm the sole caregiver of a schizophrenic. I can't say that capitalism has the overall bearing on my present choices in life, but schizophrenia sure does.
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2016.11.01 09:58
Michael Rotondi's GamerLab™ Wants to Revolutionize Architecture Education Through Gaming
2003.06.24 19:25
Index Architecture
This book should be in audio format. That way you could listen while sleeping, and after about a week you could start talking like a Columbia grad without spending all that time and money. Now that would be radical!
2016.11.01
I'm now curious to read Ole Bouman's Realspace in Quicktimes: Architecture and Digitization (1996) again, to see just how much things have changed or haven't.
2016.11.01 12:45
Long derided by architects, Prince Charles' model town Poundbury might not be all that bad after all
I love the local mid-century scream!
2015.04.06 11:05
What's your favorite piece of architecture?
Rather than just lists, it might be interesting to know whether an architect's favorite architectures are even experientially known by the architect. For example, of all the different buildings above, the only building that I have known inside and out is Whitemarsh Hall in its 1970s abandoned state. The other buildings I've experienced--Rialto Bridge, Habitat, Sydney Opera House, Loyola Law School, Vanna Venturi House, Gehry House--I've really only visited briefly and seen only from the outside. As to the rest (posted by others), I know those buildings only by pictures and sometimes also by drawings (plans, elevations, etc.). And my own list I know via interacting with the designs in 2D and 3D CAD. I seriously wonder if it is realized how much appreciation of architecture is oft times more virtual than real. Like, my choices of favorite piece of architecture would be completely different if limited to within a 5 miles radius of where I live.
Frank Weise, Sheppard Residence, 1950-51
About 3 minutes away by car. Drive by it a few times a month, Never been inside, but there are interior shots online. Wish I knew it was on sale a few years ago; would have seriously considered buying it. Koolhaas wo bist du?
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2016.11.01 20:36
Long derided by architects, Prince Charles' model town Poundbury might not be all that bad after all
Got dinner tonight from Chop Suzy Choices, our favorite Chinese take-out, and you'll never guess what my fortune cookie said!
"Could the best architecture be the architecture that quietly disappears once it starts becoming mediocre?"
I mean, how crazy is that?!
2016.11.02 10:16
Long derided by architects, Prince Charles' model town Poundbury might not be all that bad after all
WG, this morning I was wondering whether it's correct to think: the culture of choice is almost anathema to the culture of architectural education. It sounds like you're somewhat trying to change that, i.e., architectural education embracing culture of choice. (I realize I'm here simplifying, but allow me to continue.) Your mention of Medellin reminded me of this:
2011.02.17 13:01
Generic Architecture
the myth
the reality
hope floats
I can see the last image as (very possibly) signifying a culture of choice (and even wonder whether parts of Tokyo are more like that than the other two images). When I say culture of choice, I see this more exemplified by the music industry and cable TV and the food industry where the choices are enormous. I also see this image as somewhat indicative of culture of choice:
As an educator in Japan and through your various professional travels, do you ever see architecture and urbanism operating more along the lines of culture of choice? I'm genuinely interested in what you might think about any of this.
parting shot:
Your mention of the Rem/Venice Bienniale reminded me of this:
2014.06.12 16:23
Editor's Picks #371
You could say that a significant portal that is missing from the above exhibit is precisely that portal engendered by the internet and html that allows me (and everyone else, for that matter) to enter exactly what I'm thinking right now. I don't know if there's ever been a portal of entry that is so vast and so open and for the most part so free of restriction. I realized the incredibleness of this portal now almost 18 years ago, and whether it is seen that way or not, practically every time I post something it's not a reference to myself, it's a reference to the meta-architecture of that most virtual of all portals.
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