2008.12.23 14:32
pragmatists turning political?
more Olivetti reenacted
2008.12.14 10:40
Shape and Form
Louis Sullivan's form follows function argued against architecture's form having become too removed from its function--banks shouldn't look like ancient temples; bankers don't wear togas. When Sullivan was in Philadelphia working at Frank Furness' office, 1872-73, it was on the same block as, if not right across the street from, William Strickland's Second Bank of the United States, with very severe Doric temple fronts, 1819-24. Strickland's Philadelphia architecture was meant to represent the United States as the new democracy, thus emulating (reenacting) the architecture of the old democracy of ancient Greece. Note, however, the similarity of the contemporaneous works of Strickland and Schinkel point to other factors also being present within the formulation of Strickland's style, likely the influence of the " Grand Durand".
As it stands, the Second Bank of the United States is made of King of Prussia(n blue) marble.
Actually, the columns are crumbling due to having been originally hewn incorrectly.
"You mean form does not follow function when hewn incorrectly?!?"
2008.12.12 13:30
Shape and Form
When it comes to mythical origins and first ideal forms, it is worthwhile to ask if the mythical origins and the first ideal forms are themselves reenactments. For example, the manifestation of Shiva reenacts metabolism. Moreover, might not Plato's ideal forms [like his Socratic dialogues] also be reenactments (albeit highly abstracted)? Perhaps Plato's perfect circle 'ideally' reenacts the pupils of our eyes and Plato's perfect triangle 'ideally' reenacts the nose on our face.
Perhaps all abstractions are highly idealized reenactments of reality, rather than reality being a reenactment of highly idealized abstractions.
2000.02.18
2008.12.10 14:51
history network
Re: paper
2003.10.03 11:51
Thanks for the update.
What we have at the PMA are more correctly reenactments of the 'original' readymades.
ref: architecthetics link
Here are questions I would ask:
In what ways has Modernism also become a tradition? And in what ways hasn't Modernism become a tradition?
Have fun.
| |
2008.12.10 12:08
Poll: Does an architect lose credibility if s/he can't draw?
"Of course, if drawing by talking becomes a reality, then the main issue will be the gift of gab."
2008.12.08 15:35
Thesis: Segregation
Story goes, if a woman alone enters the bar/pub via the 'ladies entrance' then she does not want to be 'hit on', whereas, if a woman alone entered the bar/pub via the main entrance, then she's 'fair game'.
I went to a sexually segregated (although racially integrated, 65% white, 35% black) High School--huge place, boy's side/girl's side, combined student body over 6100 while I was there in the early 1970s; cracks in the [gender] segregation started then, some co-ed math and religion classes and a couple weeks of co-ed phys-ed--square dancing of all things! The halls between classes were literally packed wall to wall--it was like baby-boom in the flesh.
2008.12.03 11:23
where is the good new architecture?
There may be well be a lot of recent built architecture that is uninteresting (to you), but, nonetheless, there is a lot of recent designed architecture that is interesting. I can hear you say that designed, i.e. unexecuted, architecture does not count on this list. Yet I can also hear you say that St. Pierre does not count because it was designed in 1962. That is to say I sense your evaluation process unfortunately includes a double standard. Not all architecture has to be built in order for it to be historically significant.
| |
2008.12.03 08:00
pragmatists turning political?
I listened to most of the lecture while doing other work. Interesting, and likely even fruitful, typological analysis in terms of forms and how they may relate to programs and usage, but there remains the hint of force-fit and an even horizontal shift from 'iconic' analysis/design to 'political' analysis/design. As to this work's place within the continuum, I like how this is now being reenacted.
2008.12.03 01:50
where is the good new architecture?
I'm sorry, but I just don't see arbitrary calendar dates and market value events as some kind of cause-and-effect ways to analyze, evaluate or categorize the evolution of architectural design. You mention the connection of Eisenman to CCTV, and I find that more relevant then whether CCTV is on a/your list of top 5 21st century buildings so far. And look at Le Corbusier's St. Pierre at Firminy-Vert, designed 1962, finally built a few years ago. Also Hedjuk's Bye House.
I prefer to watch architecture history as it actually unfolds, and not through the aperture of somewhat artificial markers.
2008.12.03 00:44
where is the good new architecture?
Is there really all that much difference between 31 December 1999 and 1 January 2000? They're arbitrary place setters, and not the demarcation of disticnt different times. Metaphorically, the calendar is the cart, not the horse.
Personally, I see the Seattle Library design going back to Kahn's [and Tyng's] mid-1950s Municipal Building designs for Philadelphia. Historical analysis within a space-time continuum is more ongoing productivity and less end-product.
2008.11.30 10:58
Learning from Las Vegas (ad infinitum): An Interview With Charlie Kaufman
After reading "that goethe fully believed that it is only by conveying the most intimately personal thoughts did an artist have the opportunity to touch something universally resonant" I thought, "that sounds like sexual repression."
Funny, that.
2008.11.27 09:49
Incestous Architecture - Lost in Translation
I very much enjoy the bombastic interface of such an acute intellegence. Moreover, I miss it when it's not there.
2008.11.26 20:59
Thanks Giving, A Native American View
It really is a shame though that Thankgiving dinner is such a sham reenactment.
| |
2008.11.24 11:06
watching old architects talk to each other
Ah, rather than progress based on discontent, it's progress based on contentment.
2008.11.24 10:48
"The End of Architecture?"
[maybe the reactious reaction to re-actment]
1992 was not so much the 'end of architecture' but definitely in the midst of a hiatus. CADD (computer-aided drafting and design) became CAAD (computer-aided art design).
"The more things change (like screen names), the more they stay the same (linearity)."
So, if you blasted off from the North Pole and then traveled in a constant straight line, would you ultimately end up at the South Pole?
2008.11.22 18:58
watching old architects talk to each other
Re: nano stuff
2002.05.20 14:49
While corporate/designer 'branding' on a broad commercial basis is at least as old as the early 1970s, especially in terms of humans wearing logos, etc., it really is no surprise that branding is a hyper virtuality involving hyper size.
On 60 Minutes last night one saw teenagers of Sierra Leone, Africa that were branded by the rebel forces that abducted them and then forced them to fight the government (and often their own families). A Kansas City plastic surgeon is now their to remove the flesh brands so that the teenagers have a future, otherwise the teenagers are signified enemies.
Despite the great tragedy of the youth of Sierra Leone, branding in Africa is not exactly something to be surprised at. Could it be that body modification, like within so much of African tribal culture, may have indeed had its archaic origins within the same kind of reasoning that the Sierra Leone rebels employed? It wouldn't surprise me at all if many US citizens would gladly accept modified cells (etc.) from Disney.
In case you haven't noticed, identity is a big commodity that many (if not most) US citizens buy into. I am what I wear. I am what I drive. I am the neighborhood I live in. I am the amount of times I visit DisneyWorld [or archinect]. I am my plastic surgeon. I am a branded cell (finally?!?).
QBVS3, p. 59.
2008.11.22 16:38
watching old architects talk to each other
rebel without a because
| |
2008.11.22 15:15
watching old architects talk to each other
"Architects, for the most part, are not particularly convincing (especially viewed amongst themselves)."
excerpt from "Operation a Success, Patient Dead"
2008.11.19 15:55
Survey about modern architecture
I used dowdy once, the AEG factory.
That roofline reminds me of a Babuschka.
2008.11.19 15:42
Survey about modern architecture
What's the problem?
Aggressive, stark and awkward were the only words I needed!
Villa Savoye did look precise though.
2008.11.18 09:15
THESIS: Tactical Architecture + Camouflage
title: The Lebbeus Woods Museum
program: making use of uselessness
|