2008.08.13 08:53
product endorsements by starchitects
There was that ad of a half dozen or so young architects showing off the underwear. Hilarious image of architects caught with their pants down. I saved the magazine pages for some future readymade artwork entitled As if it's only a metaphor.
2008.08.13 08:40
Adam (sans Eve) in the Garden of Satire
August 13, 1977
Campidoglio was the Campidoglio. Il Gesu closed on us. I and two older American women got lost in the monastery. Saw Massimo and got in the courtyard. Missed Farnese. Piazza Navona was full of dopers and foul looking degenerates left over from hippy days. It was also high noon, extremely hot and hardly any shade. We ate lunch there sitting on a stoop and sidewalk. Some slimy girl stole one of R.'s peaches. I couldn't wait to leave the place. It was trashy.
But the big story today is Santa Maria della Pace. P. was giving a lecture while three fuck-ups were shooting heroin in the doorway. P. thought they were eating lunch and was jabbering right in front of them. It turned everybody's stomach.
Pantheon was next. It was the Pantheon (dirty like the rest of the neighborhood). I think idealism fell out the bottom today.
2008.08.12 16:33
I smell a Vorläufer
Und das war nur die Vorspeise.
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2008.08.12 16:18
Adam (sans Eve) in the Garden of Satire
Friday continued...
We got a late start because everyone over slept and Mohammed took a late shower. Finally got to the Termini shortly before 12:00. The rest took a later bus and arrived a half hour later. Walked over to a market to pack a lunch; prices seemed ok. There was such a hassle in the store because no one knew what they were supposed to order. Mindy and Marcy got lost on the way because they got entraced looking in a shoe store.
P. and I shared lunch. We ate in the Colosseum (got there by subway). It's a great place for a picnic. Full of Kahn and Moore references, otherwise just as expected, except didn't expect lots of Japanese tourists.
Tried my first sketch and found I can't do it for shit. This is going to be one hell of an architecture tour. J.P. can sketch great and it makes me sick. He does it so easily and finishes in no time. The Forum is where I really found out I couldn't sketch. Everything I draw looks so fucking shitty. I'll never get through the requirements, and I hate to think that people are going to ask to see the sketches back home. It will be very embarrassing. We ended our tour on the Palatine Hill in the Palace of the Caesars. The masonry structure was incredible. I want to go back alone and study it more.
J.P. and I started to get into all the structure. I was surprised to see how much he really didn't know. I made a couple of references to Kahn and I think he was offended. It's obvious Kahn took a great deal from the architecture of ancient Rome. [Kahn's work in] India doesn't seem all that great anymore; the ruins are better.
Had a great time at night. We [all] first walked to the Spanish Steps and climbed half way up. Then went restaurant hunting; went to a pizzaria down a side street. Some Texans at another table paid for our wine, and the waiter gave us two bottles of wine for free. We didn't leave the place till after twelve.
We walked back to the Spanish Steps where some probably drunk Italian Stallions were kicking empty soda cans down the steps. Went to find what Jean hid for me [a couple weeks earlier] at Quatro Fontane. I'll tell you, she is no big spender--about 11 cents in foreign currency is all she left along with a note. But the search was worth it. Came back to the Spanish Steps and met up with the rest of the crew. Also kicked cans since it was the new thing to do.
Got home at 1:30 and tired as hell but didn't fall asleep till 3:30.
2008.08.12 15:38
when thought matters
It seems I prefer architecture profaned.
2008.08.12 08:29
Adam (sans Eve) in the Garden of Satire
Friday, August 12 [1977]
Our first morning in Rome and it is hot. No time earlier to write and there is a lot to write about. The plane left over four hours late (3 am approx.), and was very crowded and uncomfortable. It was difficult to sleep. We finally arrived in Rome about 20:00 (Rome time)--we walked from plane to airport through two rows of armed-with-machine-gun soldiers. They seem to take terrorism seriously in Europe. We had to wait an hour for the bus to the city.
The bus ride was incredible. 80 people on a bus designed for 40. It was nice and a perfect introduction to Rome. I sat next to an English woman who helped me out when it came time to pay--had no Italian money as the exchange was closed at the airport. From the train station (Termini) George, Mohammed and I took a taxi to the "For You". George gave the wrong street, so at first we got lost, so to speak.
The "For You" is a story in itself. The pensione does not exist. It is an old, dirty building with stairs in the center. An old lady at the top of the steps yelled at us to go away because the pensione was closed. It's still a mystery about the pensione.
Anyway, after a lot more yelling it was obvious we had no place to stay and a lot of baggage to carry. We all just looked at each other and sort of all understood this had to happen because nothing else happened right so far. (Poor Mr. P.) John and R.B. went to get the police who 'helpfully' spoke no English. Marcy used her French and some feminine charm as best she could. We knew the P.s had their place, but not where it was. The Police did all the arranging for us, including getting taxis, and we finally arrived at the Villa Helena where the P.s are staying. It's a wonderful place, a beautiful villa--large living room and dining room on our floor. R., George and I are sharing a room, and we are going to stay here the rest of trip.
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2008.08.11 21:20
I smell a Vorläufer
9. Schinkel
Coda: Hejduk
2008.08.11 21:17
Working for a Starchitect - is it worth it?
Jahn (GQ), Sting (GQ), Schinkel (Sammlung), Dark Shadows, V-80 prints, Self Portrait No.?
2008.08.11 15:30
Adam (sans Eve) in the Garden of Satire
Casa Guarnieri
Horti Luciliani
Palazzo Tomati
Pensione For You
Villa Hélène
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2008.08.10 11:29
Adam (sans Eve) in the Garden of Satire
Piranesi's close familiarity with [Hadrian's] Villa dates back at least to the 1750s, when there are accounts of sketching expeditions made in the company of Robert Adam, Clérisseau and Allan Ramsay.*
--John Wilton-Ely, The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi (London: Thames and Hudson, 1978), p. 41
*See John Fleming, Robert Adam and his Circle in Edinburgh and Rome, London and New York, 1962, passim.
passim : here and there: used in bibliographic references to indicate that the writer has drawn upon material scattered throughout the source cited.
In fact, there is no direct evidence within Robert Adam and his Circle in Edinburgh and Rome that Piranesi and Adams were ever together at Hadrian's Villa, nor does Adam every mention Piranesi having been to Hadrian's Villa. Was perhaps Adam at Hadrian's Villa before Piranesi ever was? It is on record that Adam was at the Villa d'Este mid-June 1755. And again Adam led a survey and drawing expedition at Hadrian's Villa for six days in April 1756.
Many of the specifics we have today regarding Piranesi's life from June 1755 to late-April 1757 come from the coeval letters of Robert Adam. According to Wilton-Ely: The new decade of the 1760s saw a broadinging of Piranesi's antiquarian concerns... A particular field of operation in this decade was Tivoli and the ruins of the nearby Hadrian's Villa.
Here and there indeed.
2008.08.10 10:33
Adam (sans Eve) in the Garden of Satire
August 10, 1977
...at Columbia University. I would have liked to split up except I had no watch. ...would have spent the day around Cooper-Hewitt and the Met (maybe also Cooper Union). ...apprehensive about the Rome trip in general and what the next three weeks will be like specifically.
Yesterday was such a nice day because it was nothing. It flowed by without time.
...remember to never wait for the other. Just stay ahead or behind; close enough not to get lost and far enough to occupy space.
What will the others be like?
[flight scheduled to leave JFK 10:45 pm]
2008.08.10 09:59
The arrogance of 'Architects'
Rudi is still unsurpassed.
craziest best--video nolonger available
so the question, so the answer
clients:
house:
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