tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36383875565511844362024-03-05T10:47:42.101-05:00MockitectureCulture, Policy, and Life-Affirming Energydontknockitecturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08140900682596939597noreply@blogger.comBlogger254125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-37748388123166095072023-05-12T09:02:00.000-04:002023-05-12T09:02:35.179-04:00Manhattan's Duck: Inside the new American Museum of Natural History<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2l5Asm4_2vvXSPYTZxxlcr6JDfeanskjDX6X9lgznrNqMiQ7C6m8_3BOs5Q3fkpTkUUl-PwGAzlbeQfy1GITnNv_rNU8R0dQNv4ZOQVaJKUpR6lRgCoB_arp2jQqWx1ZdSYK0EIKh_dJjSdzVAnVI_Nn4vZ5ePEeM1HjeGwxxbTqVoyeJ7PXQ_64Uqg/s1200/19_Gilder_Center_at_Dusk_Iwan_Baan_1436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2l5Asm4_2vvXSPYTZxxlcr6JDfeanskjDX6X9lgznrNqMiQ7C6m8_3BOs5Q3fkpTkUUl-PwGAzlbeQfy1GITnNv_rNU8R0dQNv4ZOQVaJKUpR6lRgCoB_arp2jQqWx1ZdSYK0EIKh_dJjSdzVAnVI_Nn4vZ5ePEeM1HjeGwxxbTqVoyeJ7PXQ_64Uqg/w640-h426/19_Gilder_Center_at_Dusk_Iwan_Baan_1436.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>It was a verdant green New York spring day. Climbing up the stairs leaving the 81st St subway station, I am greeted by the earthy aroma of Central Park after a late April rain shower. It was a welcome moment of natural respite as I wandered the gridded streets of Manhattan’s Upper West Side. <br /><br />To my surprise, in the middle of the block along Columbus Avenue, I am once again refreshed by nature. There is a building that resembles a huge boulder. Clad in Milford pink granite that references the museum’s east entrance, its windows are shaped like the wind-swept cliffs of some ancient canyon. It is The 230,000-square-foot, $465 million Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation, and it is the newest—if unusual—addition to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). <br /><br />A building that looks like a natural rock formation is unexpected among the Manhattan grid. It would be more likely found at a zoo, or a theme park, or perhaps along Route 66, where buildings that look like large objects define the landscape—their shapes often advertising their function, such as a hot-dog-shaped hot dog stands or giant donuts attracting potential customers. Long Island’s <a href="https://northforker.com/2023/03/this-old-place-the-big-duck-is-a-symbol-of-long-islands-duck-farming-past/">celebrated “Big Duck”</a> duck farmstand has become an icon for the region and a <a href="https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-quirky-endearing-tradition-duck-architecture">reference point for architects.</a><div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2B8MeaKvb878r-zWvqOcSOPbp9nVSJ70j1bKda3I0uEZkByvKq-ucYqZPTIzvEsRgtGWBBtKn8XQDolEbIWPMhcM6f6itC5bI_qwd3cywGFq6EhfM4FGzjfc5tNwZ-Lf4MlV4J5BfsX1vkCrutcX4tfX0mDq1KUzMBFQswkDF65CsUfBzfIcmx5Q9cg/s1200/8_Gilder_Center_Griffin_Atrium_Staircase_Iwan_Baan_0632.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2B8MeaKvb878r-zWvqOcSOPbp9nVSJ70j1bKda3I0uEZkByvKq-ucYqZPTIzvEsRgtGWBBtKn8XQDolEbIWPMhcM6f6itC5bI_qwd3cywGFq6EhfM4FGzjfc5tNwZ-Lf4MlV4J5BfsX1vkCrutcX4tfX0mDq1KUzMBFQswkDF65CsUfBzfIcmx5Q9cg/w640-h426/8_Gilder_Center_Griffin_Atrium_Staircase_Iwan_Baan_0632.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>The Gilder Center is just one of a few Manhattan “ducks.” Perhaps the most well-known is Morris Lapidus’s Maritime Hotel, the beloved westside establishment with circular boat windows. However, while the geologically inflected design for AMNH does advertise the function of the AMNH, it does more than just look like rocks or or glaciers. “Our starting point for the design wasn’t necessarily visuals of nature,” Studio Gang principal Jeanne Gang said. “But once we started thinking like that, we became inspired by natural forms like canyons and melted ice”<br /><br />The new building uses these highly visual design strategies to create new publics as the sculptural facade wraps around the building and into the building’s interior, creating a five-story cave-like atrium with a grand staircase at its center that acts as a spectacular welcoming space for visitors. <br /><br />“It is almost like a solid object that has been carved out,” Gang said. “We used software and physical models to simulate the effects of these natural processes, such as water flowing over and eroding the surfaces.”</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ-P94Yag8ixu57PtV3Vf3JHYbiLf5CiF8Canl1bqWEO_gmLKVblliQSWAU5og8UN2BfbZnch2LDA-wOpwbGMSuUltHAyOY7C2HlrhZcUVxuELTuJFtGiJi0oc6QDa_42n14bq0nYPyU9lx4HqEVw7ZS6o79u0CLGvxkENrJ2NsvUg-CSNRdepp5VTpw/s1200/11_Gilder_Center_Third_Floor_Aperture_Iwan_Baan_0771.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ-P94Yag8ixu57PtV3Vf3JHYbiLf5CiF8Canl1bqWEO_gmLKVblliQSWAU5og8UN2BfbZnch2LDA-wOpwbGMSuUltHAyOY7C2HlrhZcUVxuELTuJFtGiJi0oc6QDa_42n14bq0nYPyU9lx4HqEVw7ZS6o79u0CLGvxkENrJ2NsvUg-CSNRdepp5VTpw/w640-h426/11_Gilder_Center_Third_Floor_Aperture_Iwan_Baan_0771.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>The holes in the atrium’s interior “facade” were determined by constraints such as views, structure, and circulation paths. The structural concrete is left exposed as the finish material, helping people understand how the building was made and aligning with the museum’s mission to expand education around natural history. “What the museum liked is that people on a basic level would say, “That is something I know,” Gang said. “It was a good alignment between the physics of the structures and the shapes that the museum felt their audience would connect with.”<br /><br />Connecting the museum’s 10 buildings, the atrium’s voluptuous concrete recalls early experiments in reinforced concrete such as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goetheanum">Goetheanum</a> in Dornach, Switzerland. The rock-like walls are made of “shotcrete,” a technique where builders spray concrete over a skeleton of rebar and smooth it by hand. It was developed in the early 1900s by AMNH taxidermist Carl Akeley, and it is still used at the museum in the design of taxidermy dioramas. It is also used at zoos to <a href="https://www.coloradohardscapes.com/7-concrete-features-that-took-these-zoos-to-the-next-level/">create animal habitats</a>. (In the late 19th century and early 20th, concrete was often marketed as <a href="https://www.davidpublisher.com/Public/uploads/Contribute/5552b9428be11.pdf">“artificial stone,”</a>)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUc4aVJmloVT-yzlGy6Ta6N-VVjz2IMIns_vhizn3jjuoigFjLQt51G5lY7Ks89N9nwP29VV7M37PsnMW4JlK-aIc3QOLAGnmiqjLfQuIDHxtfbpzZcHRrn2EuZyTCO_uBbkTRkvnd6FqlRM_dVVZBwi4wtlh-JpI25kGBsBw_9On5KyVFN1cmYdqWMQ/s1200/9_Gilder_Center_Second_Floor_Collections_Core_Iwan_Baan_1818.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUc4aVJmloVT-yzlGy6Ta6N-VVjz2IMIns_vhizn3jjuoigFjLQt51G5lY7Ks89N9nwP29VV7M37PsnMW4JlK-aIc3QOLAGnmiqjLfQuIDHxtfbpzZcHRrn2EuZyTCO_uBbkTRkvnd6FqlRM_dVVZBwi4wtlh-JpI25kGBsBw_9On5KyVFN1cmYdqWMQ/w640-h426/9_Gilder_Center_Second_Floor_Collections_Core_Iwan_Baan_1818.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br />By wrapping the atrium in this material, it gives a bold, expressive wrapper to the more quotidian, pragmatic architecture behind—where collections, education centers, and galleries await visitors. The design recalls old Western <a href="https://buffaloah.com/a/DCTNRY/f/false.html">false front buildings</a> with front walls that extend above the roofline to appear larger and act as signs advertising their function. However, the atrium’s sculptural forms are more than a typical false front, as they act as the building’s structure as well.<br /><div><br /></div><div>The visual connection to the research materials is a public interface between the back of house and the public spaces, giving glimpses of the different functions of the museum, and offering views into the education, research, and gallery spaces. “We recognize that most people who come through our doors don’t even know we have research collections,” AMNH Dean of Science for Collections Scott A. Schaefer said. “The new building brings that research out into the open and lets the public know what we have and why.”<br /><br />It is similar to the strategy used at the Broad Museum in Los Angeles, where New York architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro placed apertures in the museum’s archival spaces, exposing their contents to the public spaces such as the lobby and staircases, which share an organic, sinuous aesthetic. <br /><br />The building is very contemporary, especially in a city full of straightforward corporate boxes. If those rectilinear, repetitive glass and steel buildings represent one vision of the future, then the Gilder Center’s nature-inspired forms are another.</div></div></div></div>dontknockitecturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08140900682596939597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-56299056319881990932013-02-22T12:18:00.000-05:002013-02-22T12:18:11.175-05:00OMA's Villa Dall'ava Decoded<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YoLBiTDeyr4" width="420"></iframe>N_O_R_T_O_Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622592770239984942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-4983329235744240642013-02-14T19:06:00.000-05:002013-02-14T19:06:12.084-05:00Internet Monument to Richard Meier<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kjGaL1gV_nk" width="560"></iframe>N_O_R_T_O_Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622592770239984942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-11089776299877347592013-01-27T16:12:00.000-05:002013-01-27T16:12:11.797-05:00Virtual Realities<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/W2gZrM22QfY?list=PLE1E4583F4A5C8859" width="560"></iframe>N_O_R_T_O_Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622592770239984942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-14463296425838586792013-01-23T07:30:00.000-05:002013-01-23T07:30:01.397-05:00Evil Twins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Evil Twins are the antagonists, opposites, and look-alikes of storytelling. They tend to have distinct physical differences: goatees being the most common, along with the occasional scar or alternate outfit. An evil twin is typically not a biological twin, but rather exists as a physical duplicate, albeit with a different world view, who has entered the story from a parallel universe or other sci-fi phenomena (i.e. Star Trek's <i>Mirror Mirror</i>).<br />
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As architectural copying intensifies, the Evil Twin could be adopted as a fictional device to promote a critical method for duplication. Some quick thoughts on architectural Evil Twins follows:<br />
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But first, be advised, the recent pirated Zaha building is <i>not</i> an Evil Twin of the original - it's more of a biological twin - a Canal Street rip off of the original. It's for people who prefer GAP over Versace; Ford over Ferrari. The copy has no agenda - no alternate view of reality, no reason to undermine the original, and an agenda obsessed with achieving the same effect for less money. Interesting, but not an Evil Twin.<br />
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ARM's <a href="http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/stealing_beauty/" target="_blank">Negative of the Villa Savoye</a> might be a better candidate for an Evil Twin. It's appearance, some 70 years after the original, seems to have time warped into Earth from an alternate universe. Also, the sinister "goatee" of ARM's copy has been manifested through the applique of chunky jet black panels - seems visible. The most terrifying aspect of ARM's copy is the roof deck, which appears to be a 1:1 copy until further examination reveals your mind has been fooled.</div>
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Perhaps one of the best Evil Twins I've ever seen - and what sparked my interest in the topic - is the recent reemergence of a beloved pavilion in a small Midwestern river town, Rising Sun (Indiana). The cloaking of a utilitarian public restroom building with camouflaged aesthetics of the town's pavilion, coupled with a very sinister reversal of program (public to private) is masterful. The evil twin trope of the goatee manifested as an aluminum front door. And, unlike Corb's and Zaha's twins, this building is doing something <i>more</i> - it goes beyond mere copying towards mockery, perhaps even jealousy. It is not quite a copy, but desperately wants to be. And in not fully succeeding in replication, it calls attention to a new possible future for the further reduction of architecture to image.</div>
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N_O_R_T_O_Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622592770239984942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-63010802432315783292012-06-12T08:35:00.000-04:002012-06-12T08:46:26.831-04:00Alibis in Link and Video FormatIf everyone jumped off a bridge, I probably would not follow them. However, if they all made "what I've been up to lately" posts, I would definitely follow them. <br />
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So here's what I've been up to lately...<br />
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Most bloggin has been done over at the A/N Blog. I may or may not have used my real name, but either way, you can read it all <a href="http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archives/author/mshaw">here</a>.<br />
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Also, there was my review of the MoMA show "Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream" in the April issue of Icon. It's not online, but the issue is available <a href="http://www.iconeye.com/news/news/icon-107-theatre">here</a>.<br />
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Then there was an interview with Kevin Brass of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), about supertall buildings, and why we still care about them. You can check that out on Vice Magazine's technology website, <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/2012/5/25/my-skyscraper-s-super-taller-than-yours-an-interview-with-the-council-on-tall-buildings">Motherboard</a>.<br />
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Also, there was this lecture series (part of a larger series at D-Crit) which I curated. It includes Aaron Betsky of the Cincinnati Art Museum, Jimenez Lai of Bureau Spectacular, Damon Rich of the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), and a bonus track, a Q+A with Michael Meredith of MOS. Together, it represents a near-complete overview of Mockitecture. All videos are embedded below.<br />
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<br />dontknockitecturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08140900682596939597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-62735250510442655142012-05-31T21:11:00.001-04:002012-05-31T21:11:07.549-04:00Painted Ladies of the Past and Future<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2012 a la 1977 via Instagram</td></tr>
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<i>The ensuing attempt to rebuild the home on more stable foundations, according to the specifications of countermodernists and nostalgic dreamers, complete with its cellar and its attic, its aged walls and comforting fireplace, has, however, inevitably fallen victim to a complaint inseparable from all nostalgic enterprises: that of the triumph of image over substance. In its aspiration to recover the past, postmodernism has generally substituted the signs of its absence, perhaps, in the process, engendering a house more truly haunted than that of modernism, but, for all this, hardly a more comforting or stable entity. – <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Architectural-Uncanny-Essays-Unhomely/dp/0262720183" target="_blank">Anthony Vidler</a></i></blockquote>
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Painted Ladies are the endangered species of the built environment. Governmental regulation protects their habitat and, ultimately, their ability to survive. They thrive in small communities where outsider buildings are not welcome. This makes new construction in the proximity of other Painted Ladies especially curious, subjected to the politics of taste and fashion. In this manner, San Francisco might be read as a zoo - a sort of preserve for the Painted Lady species. Tourists, on streetcar safaris, eagerly snap photos of the 'ladies.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtOWRT1llx2aUp85PFR6jtNqjwZmaGJzAbK7BUBbOOydQ4wayJR6VXn_P6yHTVrGKxpu43E-UNelteeJEY6z7NEbmUAySjrwwnBy43RmmhvI95p4qzeTY8PKuKHOEBDx7nJh9YQ9rje0/s640/blogger-image--1767972475.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtOWRT1llx2aUp85PFR6jtNqjwZmaGJzAbK7BUBbOOydQ4wayJR6VXn_P6yHTVrGKxpu43E-UNelteeJEY6z7NEbmUAySjrwwnBy43RmmhvI95p4qzeTY8PKuKHOEBDx7nJh9YQ9rje0/s400/blogger-image--1767972475.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A New-Old Painted Lady</td></tr>
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Encountering new buildings cloaked with an old Painted Lady fashion (New-Old) is a bewildering experience made even stranger with the help of <a href="http://instagr.am/" target="_blank">old photo filters</a>. This is an architecture that begs us to return to a past we remember but never lived. An architecture obsessed with vintage fashion: something undeniably authentic and "nonchalantly cool."</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sun drenched nostalgia: low quality allure</td></tr>
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<i>To buy new items would demonstrate caring, making a considered choice. [...] A denial of quality and a distancing from contemporary discourse might prove hip-ness through expressing a lack of one's own investment in differentiating the good from the average. […] We have been raised in a post-modern world, brought up to believe there is no essential truth, no perfect answer. With all things equal, we aspire to a past when society was idealistic about its output, when people were optimistic about the future. - <a href="http://fulcrum.aaschool.ac.uk/pdf/fulcrum01_310111_integrity.pdf" target="_blank">Samuel Szwarcbord</a></i></blockquote>
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The Painted Lady, as we know her today, represents a historicised image-based fashion. Might other more current or forward looking Painted Ladies be possible? As we continue to decorate our buildings in vintage fashion, where can the Painted Ladies' evil twin be found!? Where are the buildings dressed in futuristic fashion?<br />
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Where are the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM653myMk04" target="_blank">green screen wall assemblies</a>, <a href="http://andreasangelidakis.blogspot.com/2011/03/abbreviated-manifesto.html" target="_blank">websites wrapped onto buildings</a>, and <a href="http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/eintracht/eintracht0912/eintracht091200020/6032560-green-energy-conceptual-rendering-of-a-pixelated-hand-pointing-to-a-house-with-a-wind-turbine-and-so.jpg" target="_blank">pixelated solar panel facades</a>?? What about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aliased.png" target="_blank">spatially aliased spaces</a>??? <a href="https://twitter.com/N_O_R_T_O_N/status/207825273633243136" target="_blank">Moire-patterned brick walls</a>???? Where is the shingle system that is best viewed with a pair of <a href="http://cdn3.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/3d-movies.jpg" target="_blank">disposable 3D glasses</a>????? It's time that we, as artists and image makers, accept the idea of a society where digital media is more "real" to us than our physical surroundings.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Painted Lady Fashion...ANOTHER New-Old Building. Still waiting for the New-New Buildings...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>N_O_R_T_O_Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622592770239984942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-64627067928629744972012-04-29T23:53:00.004-04:002012-04-29T23:53:41.767-04:00The Instant CityThe citizens of Farmville hated their life. They lived in such an awful, low quality, orthogonal environment.<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg34ZGio-nPDAtb3iJQKTKd3Rlus93yz62aop1Qfs46MqlPdP3sBHbz9qLKyJQNq9no2SbcAxjjjqOJBpOB6rJLvXNXG2eWfsDOwBTzTnwDr0clN0Fa1hS-qdinRxXoOfJFPULE7nare7o/s1600/Farmville.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg34ZGio-nPDAtb3iJQKTKd3Rlus93yz62aop1Qfs46MqlPdP3sBHbz9qLKyJQNq9no2SbcAxjjjqOJBpOB6rJLvXNXG2eWfsDOwBTzTnwDr0clN0Fa1hS-qdinRxXoOfJFPULE7nare7o/s400/Farmville.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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They desperately wanted to escape, but were terrified to leave their home. Google Earth was all they knew of the outside world...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4NPLSyU_rCFHfsVb-t_B_wZ38UFP3SxUcFIS33i5vPfYHDiap7TIZIKrsLUbsFdwi9ceASg1eLjcjD2V8pzKvPwKLF_O9HldmBGbSSWcEfu3GYHxYnSx6pLeWrz2sc6Rl68n-7cs598/s1600/google_terrain_snafus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4NPLSyU_rCFHfsVb-t_B_wZ38UFP3SxUcFIS33i5vPfYHDiap7TIZIKrsLUbsFdwi9ceASg1eLjcjD2V8pzKvPwKLF_O9HldmBGbSSWcEfu3GYHxYnSx6pLeWrz2sc6Rl68n-7cs598/s400/google_terrain_snafus.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Nevertheless, a group of punk outcasts banded together to plan what would be their new home away from home: a spectacular utopian dream place. They called themselves the <i>Farmville Five</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemi7fs1CMWpcECCoCDqGBvboDKcnm6TRpw4uR_VZul-xq6IXuclHjCBRkeb7XM7eZ5UV_54vb6pu3P0Uhd8uxm7wNnzq4EU_9ygB1uMR8k2A0P7aHBsKpvPa33FcYkIppjAu-ewZAybc/s1600/Picture+32.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemi7fs1CMWpcECCoCDqGBvboDKcnm6TRpw4uR_VZul-xq6IXuclHjCBRkeb7XM7eZ5UV_54vb6pu3P0Uhd8uxm7wNnzq4EU_9ygB1uMR8k2A0P7aHBsKpvPa33FcYkIppjAu-ewZAybc/s400/Picture+32.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemi7fs1CMWpcECCoCDqGBvboDKcnm6TRpw4uR_VZul-xq6IXuclHjCBRkeb7XM7eZ5UV_54vb6pu3P0Uhd8uxm7wNnzq4EU_9ygB1uMR8k2A0P7aHBsKpvPa33FcYkIppjAu-ewZAybc/s1600/Picture+32.png"></a><br />They collectively drew the plan of their new city in a remarkable twenty three seconds. It didn't take long, but they all agreed it was a timeless and monumental design. They dubbed this radical vision the <i>Instant City</i> dreamed of its geometrical purity in the most romantic of ways.<br />
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With new web-site cities popping up everywhere, the group decided to make their city as fast as possible. But alas! In the chaos and hastiness to make their dreams come true, they built the city from a low quality copy of their original plans.</div>
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They caught the mistake, but it was too late. Someone had saved their Instant City for Web & Devices in Photoshop, as a Low (0) Quality JPEG. It was to too late. The City was already rendering, ever so slowly. </div>
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The geometrical purity and crispness of their plan was decimated by the beeps and boops of three story tall pixels in the most disorienting of manners. It was cold and eerily quiet, as the Farmville Five decided to sleep under the stars, in the streets of their hastily made Instant City.</div>
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The sun rose the next morning. The buildings of the Instant City were still rendering, but now their disturbed massing was more evident: ten-story behemoths articulated with potholes, wavy depressions, and a relentless - almost maddening - softness. The crispness of Farmville was nowhere to be found.</div>
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Curiosity filled the streets as the mistake-ridden plan was cautiously explored. Never before had the preciseness of the computer yielded such unpredictable results... <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was a strange and terrifying place. Buildings shook and shuttered in the wind, which came whipping down along massive boulevards. This spatialization of pixels had never been seen on such a massive scale before. </div>
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One of the Farmville Five was found disoriented atop one of the highest buildings, occupying a rather unruly pixel. He was quiet and contemplative, and seemed disturbingly at home among the bloopers.</div>
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<br />Some of the Others had began setting up furniture and claiming territory in the newly discovered landscape. The Instant City was coming alive in the most unplanned of ways.<br />
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<br />The outskirts of the Instant City were a mess. Nothing was planned. To make matters worse, the landscape was full of hasily defined Grasshopper scripts and Google Sketchup components. These follies appeared as quickly as the vanished, however, until one accidentally became baked into the infrastructure of the city.<br />
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These fringe areas of the City were a maze of complexity, stripped of the borrowed nostalgia the Farmville Five had grown accustomed to. Oh, how to escape from this uselessness!!??</div>
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They made their way back to the VRay Core, where the City was at its most spectacular.</div>
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Here, the buildings were still empty, but full of energy. Hastily made skins of steel and glass all generated from a 23 second Sharpie marker line sketch. Just as new cars have their distinctive "new car smell," the buildings of the Instant City smelled of iPhone and document scanning apps, Rhinoceros commands (especially Heightfield from Image & Contouring), Grasshopper Piping definitions, Google Sketchup Warehouse components (21st century readymades), and default VRay Materials...a very plastic-y smell.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Farmville seemed endlessly far away and the group was homesick...</span><br />
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...and lost amidst the ruins of the future.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>N_O_R_T_O_Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622592770239984942noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-42471719037944223052012-04-07T18:25:00.000-04:002012-04-07T18:25:23.389-04:00America's Pastime and the New RomanticismThe architecture of America's Pastime is riddled with emblems of nostalgia and patriotism: a construct of contemporary romanticism.<br />
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Beginning in the early-ninties, epitomized by <a href="http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/bal/camdenyards20/history.jsp">Oriole Park at Camden Yards</a>, a radical wave of New Urbanist NeO-rEtRoIsM shook the crumbling concrete foundations of heoric, <i>all-in-one</i> 70's avant garde sports arenas. New-Old buildings were the hottest thing since Old-Old buildings.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk11O9KRqt8Rug-tQakcPiFWbAEVbwNAyOTOJlu66RitkR5BUfyse6LPuRERGPxz_3MvmHfslYAHygB5jFCZbKgXJvcgsqZb78infwlNzH7nWv4FD9vieaolTP1FyKrHZY_9NHBwWUxJI/s1600/riverfront+stadium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk11O9KRqt8Rug-tQakcPiFWbAEVbwNAyOTOJlu66RitkR5BUfyse6LPuRERGPxz_3MvmHfslYAHygB5jFCZbKgXJvcgsqZb78infwlNzH7nWv4FD9vieaolTP1FyKrHZY_9NHBwWUxJI/s400/riverfront+stadium.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The multi-purpose "all-in-one" arena of the 1970's: ballpark as heroic object independent from the City. (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30175758@N05/3219204480/">source</a>) </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqqPHFXS7NDHPcKE6GMLU5LKlKB6GQFioHpkLmAYAroPypXURlRTUzAi7M9t7TkJrkRRqyqCNb3M9grFC81NxDuf6ZQH-8W2iA2wWUNeMF7rkL1xV_l_Q7YT71TcZW_arRLSnOexNgriE/s1600/oriole+park.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqqPHFXS7NDHPcKE6GMLU5LKlKB6GQFioHpkLmAYAroPypXURlRTUzAi7M9t7TkJrkRRqyqCNb3M9grFC81NxDuf6ZQH-8W2iA2wWUNeMF7rkL1xV_l_Q7YT71TcZW_arRLSnOexNgriE/s400/oriole+park.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neo-Retro Contextualism of the 1990's: ballpark as well-mannered piece of the City. (<a href="http://www.wrtdesign.com/projects/detail/oriole-park-at-camden-yards/139">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>When Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened on April 6, 1992, a new era of Major League Baseball began. The park was brand new, but still old-fashioned. State-of-the-art, yet quaint. At less than a day old, it was already a classic. </i></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>Oriole Park at Camden Yards inspired a generation of ballpark construction. No longer would communities across America build multipurpose stadiums devoid of character, surrounded by vast parking lots. Ballparks would now be created to nestle neatly into existing and historic neighborhoods and play key roles in the revitalization of urban America.</i></blockquote><div>The bastardization of this movement occurred roughly one decade later (March 31, 2003) when the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio was completed. <a href="http://reds.enquirer.com/2003/03/28/frilede28.html">Criticism</a> of the stadium began at its conception, often focusing on the further dissolution of the idea of the ballpark as a heroic, structurally rigorous object of authenticity:</div><div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI-Dz5mnxTos_kSlQp-5jkNnZWgiKv8YDTEQG2qAxUFJnjp0qb-PVY7X1yPxTFqgSBx3MsyQIJi-AnnO8HkdWxOBaBdw3737cdzvoLoZZeJVUVLS-xt4li0k3mtoyOf538GG92E8PWCTM/s1600/great+american+ballpark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI-Dz5mnxTos_kSlQp-5jkNnZWgiKv8YDTEQG2qAxUFJnjp0qb-PVY7X1yPxTFqgSBx3MsyQIJi-AnnO8HkdWxOBaBdw3737cdzvoLoZZeJVUVLS-xt4li0k3mtoyOf538GG92E8PWCTM/s400/great+american+ballpark.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overlay of Entertainment onto the Neo-Retro ballpark, circa 2000's (<a href="http://www.grandcentralsports.net/2010/04/in-the-history-books-one-generation-removed/">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>"They made a neutral space and then they filled it with diversions."<br />
"a theme park with a bad structure,"<br />
"There is no logic to the way the structural system was developed."<br />
"The building lacks a singular spirit. It's a restaurant and it's this plaza, and then the field and the billboards. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/paul_daugherty/04/01/sushi/index.html">It felt like we were in eight different places</a>."<br />
"There is nothing well composed about it. They didn't even do a good job of place-making, which is one of the most basic urban design concepts."<br />
"It looks to me like there were 20 people saying: `I need a smokestack. I need double-hung windows because it reminds me of Crosley Field.'"<br />
etc... </i></blockquote><div><div>Desperation, due to <span id="goog_2056739521"></span>chronically low attendance numbers<span id="goog_2056739522"></span> (see <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2011/08/florida-marlins-cincinnati-reds-attendance/1#.T4C1UKtYsqU">Here</a> and <a href="http://www.examiner.com/sports-business-in-national/can-the-florida-marlins-average-30k-fans-per-home-game">Here</a>), has yielded an even more spectacular result in Miami, home of the re-branded Marlins. Their recently (2012) completed stadium features two signature aquariums behind home plate, constructed of 1-1/2" thick bullet proof acrylic to ensure no foul ball "accidents." The result yields a new vision of the contemporary ballpark, camouflaged as an <a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/miami-marlins-construction-crew-completely-unaware,27800/">entertainment-saturated theme park spectacle</a>: A collision of Disney and SeaWorld; Vegas and Cooperstown. </div><br />
<div>At some point in history, America's pastime offered an escape from reality, providing entertainment and pleasure to the masses. Inherent in this new 21st century evolution of stadia, however repulsive to the discriminating eyes of architects, lies an incredibly redeeming quality. Entertainment has somehow extended beyond the capacity of the game, and into the core of the building. Carlos Rojas of Cincinnati-based Environ Group puts it like this:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>"The things we have criticized will make those slow innings go by a little faster. There's a lot of visual excitement; it's like going to Barnum & Bailey's circus ... The magic happens once you get in your seat." </i></blockquote>In this manner, the romanticized notion of "America's Pastime" has become overrun by an even <i>more </i>romantic idea of the ballpark as a palace of visual excitement: a magical, re-imagined circus.<br />
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</div></div>N_O_R_T_O_Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622592770239984942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-19371700714543474222012-04-04T23:40:00.000-04:002012-04-04T23:40:34.344-04:00Help Kickstart the Hefner-Bueys House<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bureau-spectacular.net/render_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://www.bureau-spectacular.net/render_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br />
</div>Chicago-based Jimenez Lai, up-and-coming architect of the fantastic and spectacular, is performing a house in a London storefront. For several weeks, Lai will live in a "super-furniture" (a house that is just a bit too small) inside the London gallery. They are going to Youtube it. He is attempting to Kickstart the project, and there are some very unique, collectible artworks being offered in return for help...<br />
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<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1743861826/hefner-beuys-house-by-jimenez-lai">http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1743861826/hefner-beuys-house-by-jimenez-lai</a> <br />
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"The Hefner/Beuys House by <a href="http://bureau-spectacular.net/">Jimenez Lai</a> is a cartoonish architectural installation that extends its story into the realm of performance art. Citing two predecessors of performance artists, Joseph Beuys and Hugh Hefner, this project also asks - who is the real extrovert between the two? Hefner may be the obvious answer, but Beuys relocated himself out of his context to a stage-like environment whereas Hefner simply stayed in his mansion."<br />
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Please visit <a href="http://www.architecturefoundation.org.uk/">The Architecture Foundation</a> for <a href="http://www.architecturefoundation.org.uk/programme/2012/london-festival-of-architecture-2012">more details</a>. <div><br />
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<div>"This installation is a Super Furniture. It is a building that is slightly too small, and a furniture that is kind of too big. Two of the past project that are a part of the Super-Furniture Series include the <a href="http://bureau-spectacular.net/711_BHOUSE.html">Briefcase House</a> and <a href="http://bureau-spectacular.net/711_WELEPHANT.html">White Elephant (Privately Soft)</a>. The previous iterations of this series has been widely covered, published and discussed, including <a href="http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/space-jack.html">BLDGBLOG</a>, <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/87318/the-briefcase-house-jimenez-lai/">ArchDaily</a>, <a href="http://archinect.com/features/article/102283/showcase-briefcase-house">archinect</a>, <a href="http://www.evolo.us/architecture/white-elephant-as-micro-building-and-macro-furniture-jimenez-lai/">Evolo</a>, <a href="http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blog/dyn/23589/zero-gravity/">Architizer</a>, etc. In addition, the transformation of the practice from comics to installation can be witnessed in a very early coverage by <a href="http://archinect.com/features/article/33421/student-works-jimenez-lai">archinect in 2006</a>."<br />
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</div></div>dontknockitecturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08140900682596939597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-67519650784385429872012-02-29T12:31:00.002-05:002012-02-29T12:33:36.701-05:00The Too Tight Stool<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.design-milk.com/images/2012/02/too-tight5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="http://4.design-milk.com/images/2012/02/too-tight5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="http://www.avihaishurin.com/">Avihai Shurin’s</a> <a href="http://www.avihaishurin.com/?page=works&id=too-tight-stool">Too Tight Stool</a> is inspired by the story of Cinderella. It consists of a pillow pushed into a metal frame, which becomes the top of a stool. Resembling the moment when the evil step-sister of Cinderella tries to force her big foot into the glass slipper, the original size of the pillow is not suitable size for a stool top, but the metal frame helps squish the pillow down to the right size.<br />
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Read more at Design Milk: <a href="http://design-milk.com/the-too-tight-stool-by-avihai-shurin/#ixzz1nnEfHRPD">http://design-milk.com/the-too-tight-stool-by-avihai-shurin/#ixzz1nnEfHRPD</a>dontknockitecturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08140900682596939597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-68260479032442446412012-02-22T16:17:00.002-05:002012-02-22T18:50:46.525-05:00Pop/Building Combo: The Architecture of a Hopeless Place<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">Rihanna's "We Found Love", and Belfast, Northern Ireland's New Lodge Flats.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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Architecture is often used in pop videos to define characters, set up scenarios, and create fictional worlds out of known building types. Rihanna and Calvin Harris' 2011 #1 hit video, We Found Love uses architecture to create a hopeless place. In the video, Rihanna and her love interest are shown falling in and out of love, and she leaves him. Intense scenes depict domestic violence, hallucination, and heartbreak.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pBeLSG0Cc58/T0VSTrWn2fI/AAAAAAAAAvA/8QPSf74ZDB0/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-02-22+at+3.06.24+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pBeLSG0Cc58/T0VSTrWn2fI/AAAAAAAAAvA/8QPSf74ZDB0/s400/Screen+shot+2012-02-22+at+3.06.24+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><div></div><div><br />
</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliO-l9suo-hhYq4VLHYVv8iWeSN3La9uOt2CuNAwvsYhPaIElGjMO27kk07xrFC6W1H1OYLWtLrKQCS3VbdojPD1UTwJp57Cej4CiSf1M5ZAbSBeL8p4BxDRW7e5TzaRkF7PsZHszjLZG/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-02-22+at+3.06.02+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliO-l9suo-hhYq4VLHYVv8iWeSN3La9uOt2CuNAwvsYhPaIElGjMO27kk07xrFC6W1H1OYLWtLrKQCS3VbdojPD1UTwJp57Cej4CiSf1M5ZAbSBeL8p4BxDRW7e5TzaRkF7PsZHszjLZG/s400/Screen+shot+2012-02-22+at+3.06.02+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br />
</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ucx-xjtO8BA/T0VSRfecyTI/AAAAAAAAAuY/GTJMVMxIhjg/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-02-22+at+3.03.40+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ucx-xjtO8BA/T0VSRfecyTI/AAAAAAAAAuY/GTJMVMxIhjg/s400/Screen+shot+2012-02-22+at+3.03.40+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>What does a hopeless place look like?<br />
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The opening scene shows the main character looking out of her window as a narrator solemnly reflects on love and loss in a depressing, mournful tone. Rihanna's dark silhouette is set against images of Modernist housing blocks, the New Lodge Flats in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The use of these multi-story brick and concrete towers conjures thoughts of "hopelessness" in two ways. First, the appropriation of an existing "hopeless place" immediately sets the tone. It recalls the failed utopia of post-war housing, more specifically London's Robin Hood Gardens or Chicago's Cabrini Green. Our story is taking place inside the commonly understood, zombified grimness of project housing. Secondly and more subliminally, the out-of-scale authoritarianism of the minimal buildings make us feel defeated and ultimately, hopeless. In Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, the same sort of failed, dystopian environments depict a future which is not bright, and not necessarily even possible. The last "future" never arrived, so why would any of today's dreams come true? Place-imagery associated with drug use is also implemented, such as skateparks, casinos, and late-night fast food restaurants. These places, as cultural signifiers, also serve as the backdrop for a lower-class narrative*, implying a financial hopelessness in addition to escalating substance abuse. Shots of pills and dilating pupils reminiscent of Aronofsky's Requiem For a Dream are mixed with fast-motion cuts of busy streetscapes. </div><div><br />
</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUAMkApUt9DsXJWelN2ejx6SjrMj3CugniUujf3aDhx2jf4Pq2Bpnafqmfyk4All5EaD18fS24QImCa-z4T0faXtnlamzfQUiefcub2zbkOrgYI51fTVrMJO8JrCiGy_BpMo9BXQd_dZbi/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-02-22+at+3.04.26+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUAMkApUt9DsXJWelN2ejx6SjrMj3CugniUujf3aDhx2jf4Pq2Bpnafqmfyk4All5EaD18fS24QImCa-z4T0faXtnlamzfQUiefcub2zbkOrgYI51fTVrMJO8JrCiGy_BpMo9BXQd_dZbi/s400/Screen+shot+2012-02-22+at+3.04.26+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br />
Despair also exists architecturally at the scale of the interior. The window apartment in which much of the story takes place is sparsely decorated, its bare white walls glowing with dull blue light. Here we witness a sex scene, drug use and subsequent domestic violence. This small space with no outside view turns architecture into a prison, shutting us away from the outside world, alone with our vices and demons. Confinement suggests entrapment spatially and emotionally, a form of hopelessness. If a <span style="text-align: left;">hopeless place is confining, then a place full of promise, such as the setting for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qrriKcwvlY&ob=av3e">Timbuk 3's "The Future's So Bright"</a>, is often open and limitless. In the 1989 video, a pair of musicians sits outside of a camper in an inspiring, boundless desert landscape singing "The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades." The camper, along with the open road and big sky, is the perfect metaphor for hope. An endless amount of opportunity exists over the next horizon. The RV is only a small dot in the huge, open landscape. Early in the Rihanna video, the couple is outside when they are happily falling in love. They run through a field, and go to a rave in an open space. These open settings facilitate the good times of the blooming relationship. Most of the negative parts of the relationship take place inside. Good things happen outside, bad things inside. Spatial confinement is employed as both an atmospheric and symbolic element. </span></div><div><span style="text-align: left;"><br />
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These distinctions are often clear, but as the story unfolds, they become blurred, creating emotional disorientation. Love can be ambiguous, both positive and negative at the same time. The blurring of inside and outside via projected images creates the sensation of simultaneous love and hate, hope and despair, and the confusing entrapment of an abusive relationship. This ultimately distorts our sense of spatial reality. As the two fall in love, images of flowers blooming cover the walls of the apartment and Rihanna. This obvious visual reference to blooming love is also an expression of hope. When the strained relationship boils over and a video of a collapsing building is shown on a crying Rihanna. After a couple of cuts to shots of crying and drug use, burning buildings are projected onto her face. This blurring via exterior imagery in interior space is also hallucinatory, an important theme of the video. <br />
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Additionally, geographic disorientation is used analogously to emotional distortion. In order for the setting to be completely depressing, it must be devoid of geographical connotations that could suggest success. We do not make the connection that the actual buildings are in Northern Ireland, we simply make associations based on the image of this particular typology. The housing projects are cross-cultural in their evocations; there is no specific culture attached. This story could be taking place anywhere. If it were set in a specific city or place, then we could bring in our own biases. This "town" is more grim than any on earth. It is a place designed to convey hopelessness. All we see are generic buildings, such as fast food restaurants, casinos, and modernist housing blocks. While the video was filmed in Northern Ireland with an English boxer, Dudley O'Shaughnessy, as the supporting role, the aesthetic is a blurring of cultures. Rihanna's clothing is decidedly punk, colored in the hues of the American flag. This blurring of place and cultures eliminates cultural biases and therefore creates a blank canvas for the horrors of the drug-influenced love story. It allows us all to identify with it, because it could be anywhere. </div><div><br />
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Architecture is this case is used as a metaphor for larger human expressions. Collapse, burning, entrapment, and longing are projected by using architecture as a narrative device. In the case of pop videos, architecture is often used this way.</div></div></div><div><br />
</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PD90hVWKZyI/T0VSUwO4U-I/AAAAAAAAAvY/foxqdcofSDM/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-02-22+at+3.08.29+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PD90hVWKZyI/T0VSUwO4U-I/AAAAAAAAAvY/foxqdcofSDM/s400/Screen+shot+2012-02-22+at+3.08.29+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Similar to the supermarket in Pulp's </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqgXzPfAxjo"><i>Common People</i></a>, a song</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> about how a well-off woman cannot truly be "common", though she tries by sleeping with a common person, because she will always have a way out of poverty. She will never actually feel the hopelessness being stuck in the lower class. The two videos explore different themes of class hopelessness, though Rihanna's creates a much more grim and drug fueled view of a hopeless situation.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">**Another Pulp analogy: The architecture in <i>We Found Love</i> becomes people, as in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLpDyvPqm1s"><i>Sheffield: Sex City</i></a>. In the song, Cocker tells a tale of his hometown as an object of sexual desire. "The city is a woman." While cocker fornicates with the city and a tower collapses in a building-scale orgasm via all of its residents simultaneous climax, Rihanna's imagery depicts a building collapsing under the stress of a failing relationship. Her destruction is more emotional, but both Cocker and Rihanna make analogies to the character-role of architecture in pop. For more on Pulp, see Owen Hatherley <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/14/pulp-festivals">here</a> or<a href="http://www.zero-books.net/books/uncommon"> here.</a></span></div><div><br />
</div>dontknockitecturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08140900682596939597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-73629931670746495992012-02-21T22:03:00.001-05:002012-02-21T22:12:41.719-05:00Theater in Museums' Clothes: The Museum of the Moving Image, Queens, NY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AScOSzz5dKM/T0RTkuTmFxI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/CLNZ-DfPRtU/s400/5352789961_c382acfaed_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;">*All images courtesy <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/sets/72157625817970764/" target="_blank">John Hill</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div>Ada Louise Huxtable's harmonious condition of "museum as specialized interface" defines architect Thomas Leeser's 2011 addition to The Museum of the Moving Image. The new space pretends to be a museum through visual cues, but its reality is that of a theater, an integrated esthetic whole tailored to the moving image. And that is just perfect. The architecture and its contents work in a closely choreographed unity. In contrast, the New York MoMA, built in 2004 Yoshio Tanaguchi, represents the type-form of the traditional, versatile museum whose architecture serves as a background for a diverse collection. In such classic museums, videos may be exhibited on the same wall as a painting, next to a sculpture. This isn't always ideal. The MoMI's success is that it breaks from this tradition; it is a content specific armature and an thus an update of the default museum, though it takes on many of the same languages.<br />
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The Astoria Studio complex was built in 1920 by Famous Players-Lasky, now known as Paramount Pictures, as their East Coast production center. The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria has been telling stories about the moving image there since 1988, when the historic studio, a brick warehouse building, became home to the collection. Leeser's $67 million, 47,700 square foot addition and renovation was commissioned in 2008 and completed in January 2011.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOj2uMKf1CEPMP00wnBsE8xiJm5ngLx7vZs0-nFZr6MBsUJCmhEB0wT021x4KFhGZxFOSYHofXm3YgA_4QLwlCrJVA4BtY9IZeb9_3RDczIAKF2MxEFBIfLfOfqqkm5hJr4NB3bV_pokWH/s1600/5352788605_ab5a316187_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOj2uMKf1CEPMP00wnBsE8xiJm5ngLx7vZs0-nFZr6MBsUJCmhEB0wT021x4KFhGZxFOSYHofXm3YgA_4QLwlCrJVA4BtY9IZeb9_3RDczIAKF2MxEFBIfLfOfqqkm5hJr4NB3bV_pokWH/s400/5352788605_ab5a316187_o.jpg" width="322" /></a></div>The dissimulation, the theater's masquerade as "not a theater", starts with the first glimpse of the building. The new addition is a sleek, complex arrangement of theaters, exhibition spaces (theaters), a lobby/cafe, and a flexible educational area. The exterior skin, a rain screen system of light blue triangular metal panels, bundles the complex interior volumes into a neatly packaged design that fools onlookers by suggesting "museum of technology" through deployment of a futuristic looking skin patterned like an abstracted 3-D wireframe model. This exterior-interior relationship reveals the core success of the building: it is not simply about displaying technology, it is about an "other-worldly experience", as the architect states. While seemingly about the progression of film, the focus is on the escapism of the movie-going experience. This is why the building must be a theater. Leeser pulls this off brilliantly.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yD2qLtu_7lU/T0RTjNo0CmI/AAAAAAAAAtA/MQSJ5Y0ACX4/s1600/5352789157_2fc8794016_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yD2qLtu_7lU/T0RTjNo0CmI/AAAAAAAAAtA/MQSJ5Y0ACX4/s400/5352789157_2fc8794016_b.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="298" /></a></div>When approaching the entrance to the museum, a canopy, really a stylized marquee, with a thin horizontal band of brightly colored text in the museum's signature font announces that this is indeed The Museum of the Moving Image. The brightness recalls marquee lights and almost announces "theater", but the larger super-graphics in the same font which cover the three window bays surrounding the double doors would not be seen at a movie house, and thus save the canopy from giving up too much too soon. The larger graphics have reflective triangles with in the text, creating a striking visual motif, original enough to disrupt our reading of the marquee as such. The exterior formal language, the thinness of the entrance's overhang, and the absence of movie posters are the costume that fools us into thinking we are at a museum. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cbqI6Pb6zKA/T0RTjgTbrwI/AAAAAAAAAtI/OeymaAs5DAc/s1600/5352789353_fe0d3f0108_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cbqI6Pb6zKA/T0RTjgTbrwI/AAAAAAAAAtI/OeymaAs5DAc/s400/5352789353_fe0d3f0108_b.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>Upon entering through the original 1920 warehouse, the interior welcomes us like a typical theater. The lobby takes its form from the sloped, traditional stepped seating area above it. This moment, when the sloped underside of the theatre seating convenes with the flat floor, becomes the inspiration for the formal elements throughout the building, from the exterior cladding to the typeface. This strategy works extremely well as it takes the inevitability of the sloped ceiling and makes it into a cohesive and thoughtful visual treatment. The triangular panels on the outer skin, the obtuse chamfers on corners of walls, the angular details of the stairs from the lobby, and the custom triangle-inspired typeface make perfect sense to embrace and exploit through a visual language of the sloped theatre's form, especially in a building so tightly confined by an urban site. This decision and its execution pull the entire intricate museum together esthetically.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VLhkJ9pmEig/T0RTmVnPnsI/AAAAAAAAAtg/jniblWK_ULY/s1600/5353402214_0b0347b7d7_b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VLhkJ9pmEig/T0RTmVnPnsI/AAAAAAAAAtg/jniblWK_ULY/s400/5353402214_0b0347b7d7_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Through the front entrance, a small information desk and cafe provide theater-like detours in the lobby space. The lobby is all white like a typical museum, with white plastic furniture and white custom Corian millwork. Upon looking closer, however, the floor is actually a very pale blue, a perfect analogy for the theater's museum impersonation. Along the wall to the left as we enter, a set of projectors allows for extremely wide-format images to be stitched along a 40 foot wall. The stark, smooth whiteness keeps up the museum like appearance, but acts as a quasi-metaphorical large inhabitable movie screen, ready to be projected upon with moving images. This apparent museum-ness of the lobby also provides a blank "canvas" or, more appropriately, a "display" for the various colored light interventions coming from the two theatre entrances. The stairs from the lobby to the upper exhibition spaces are detailed as smooth white surfaces with an angular chamfer motif to match the sloped ceiling, creating a strong visual continuity throughout.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LSfp5k4oQII/T0RTdoR4AII/AAAAAAAAAso/AcDYzaJOZiA/s1600/5353401230_d3008c73e5_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LSfp5k4oQII/T0RTdoR4AII/AAAAAAAAAso/AcDYzaJOZiA/s400/5353401230_d3008c73e5_b.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>The real star of this show is the luminescent blue, sci-fi entrance to the main theatre. Vivid blue felt on the walls and ceiling, highlighted by blue LED lights on the underside of a metallic handrail, emanates a beautiful light from the angled entrance corridor. This resembles entering an amusement park ride, a perfect experiential metaphor for the "other-wordly" act of cinema. The light creates a wash reminiscent of the warming glow of a television. This flashy contemporary styling is much more appropriate for a museum than a theater, which usually incorporates a bit of nostalgia, and again visually codes the space as a place for viewing art. The same felt and colored lighting are used in pink for the entrance to the smaller theatre space.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-evaJrOCNc6I/T0RThF6_4II/AAAAAAAAAs4/THQXMVTpiTo/s1600/5352788791_903cc03ca7_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-evaJrOCNc6I/T0RThF6_4II/AAAAAAAAAs4/THQXMVTpiTo/s400/5352788791_903cc03ca7_o.jpg" width="332" /></a></div>Inside the main theater, the triangular undulating surface from the exterior of the building is repeated, this time with custom millwork and blue acoustic felt. The space functions as a performance space as well as a video theater. The theatre also features highly tunable lighting, a small orchestra pit, and the ability to show a wide range of formats, including 3D movies. Movie house-like technology and programming defines the small upstairs gallery, located at the top of the first flight of stairs. Angular benches facilitate the projection of a movie onto the wall. This flexible gallery allows many different videos to be shown, with small theater like seating areas oriented towards a blank, flat, white wall. The latest technology works behind the scenes to make the experience cutting edge and specific, which is the strength of this building.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nluoS733At0/T0RX4i6vTwI/AAAAAAAAAts/wtvbBG12Dn4/s1600/5352789065_efcd5452d4_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nluoS733At0/T0RX4i6vTwI/AAAAAAAAAts/wtvbBG12Dn4/s400/5352789065_efcd5452d4_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>In an age of technological innovation and increased specialization, art has become more varied and more difficult to house. Video art, sound art, and interface design are just a few examples of the expanding medium to which museums must adapt. This has led to a need for more specialized museum architecture to display specific content. The Museum of the Moving Image represents a new strain, a progression of the classic museum image and takes an evolutionary step by morphing into a hybrid theatre/museum, a genre which we should see more of. It deftly tackles the age old problems of museum as interface and progresses what we know about museums into a more specialized version of the archetypal museum, the white box. The "moving of the museum image" could mean galleries within a diverse museum which can specifically accommodate different mediums, or can at least adapt in more pointed ways. Instead of using small galleries for videos when needed, small theaters could be placed alongside larger galleries. This would help facilitate the art of a mixed medium exhibition more precisely. Adaptable soundproofing could be emplyed where needed, as well. There are many ways museums can become more harmonious with their content, and MoMI serves as a precedent. This museum contains all the necessary features to project its world-class collection of film in a world-class way and should serve as an example for the next generation of museums.</div>dontknockitecturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08140900682596939597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-84967974244165721842012-02-14T01:39:00.001-05:002012-02-14T01:40:32.372-05:00ElsewhereJumping on the bandwagon, a post about other things Ive been doing...<br />
<br />
In case you missed it, <a href="http://www.domusweb.it/en/architecture/reconsidering-postmodernism/" target="_blank">here was my take on "Reconsidering PostModernism"</a> on Domusweb.<br />
<br />
New post is up, but <a href="http://dcrit.sva.edu/view/readingroom/low-fat-industrial-the-mochi-moderne-phase-of-the-frozen-yogurt-vernacular/" target="_blank">it is on the D-Crit website</a>...<br />
<div><br />
</div><i>Low-Fat Industrial: The Mochi-Moderne Phase of the Frozen Yogurt Vernacular:</i><br />
<br />
An excerpt...<br />
<blockquote>The experience of swirling my own frozen yogurt and sprinkling it with toppings was made much richer by the crazed kids, but also by the relentless and shameless blaring of bubblegum techno-pop music, something else I love. This ridiculousness is only possible in the context of an environment like uSwirl, a typical yogurt store. Other similar shops include flavaboom, Yogurt Beach, and 16 Handles. </blockquote><blockquote>Flavaboom is exemplary of the new typology. Its walls and floors are starkly white with brightly colored, bulbous furniture that resemble Mochi, the colorful Japanese jelly-like rice paste. The hyper-modern stores, by using bright lights and smooth, clean, plastic-like white materials with colorful accents in soft, plush furniture, simulate the experience of being in a giant bowl of yogurt. Reyner Banham wrote of detached motifs and patterns on ice cream vans which paralleled the sprinkles and stars of the emerging ice cream trends of 70’s London. A similar condition exists in the contemporary Yogurt Vernacular. The pristine yogurt-like ivory glitz serves as a base for the “toppings”, smears of color, usually chairs, benches, tables, and graphics. Why is it that frozen yogurt establishments have spawned a particular form of hi-tech bubblegum modernism, the Mochi-Moderne phase of the Yogurt Vernacular? </blockquote><blockquote>Frozen yogurt shops are the most “Modernist” buildings being built in 2011. Self-serve is an update of the Modernist tradition of efficiency, technological innovation, and mechanization.</blockquote><br />
Also, I'm hosting the spectacular <a href="http://dcrit.sva.edu/view/events/jimenez-lai-cartoonish-architecture/" target="_blank">Jimenez Lai for a lecture on Feb 28th</a> in NYC.<br />
<blockquote></blockquote>dontknockitecturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08140900682596939597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-91774315320010219952012-02-02T23:16:00.001-05:002012-02-02T23:18:18.758-05:00Dummy Home Security Signs: Politicized Landscaping, Architectural Dreams, and the Simulated Panopticon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.terminartors.com/files/artworks/4/2/9/42963/Douglas_Stan-Panopticon_Isla_de_Pinos_Isla_de_la_Juventud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="http://www.terminartors.com/files/artworks/4/2/9/42963/Douglas_Stan-Panopticon_Isla_de_Pinos_Isla_de_la_Juventud.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Foucault's panopticon is important and interesting because it is an architectural rearrangement of existing natural principles. It makes concrete one of the basic tenets of human nature: fear. For any worker, prisoner, or patient, the thought of being caught doing something is a powerful deterrent. Consider, too, the slaves dilemma of constant surveillance. Sometimes this sentiment is legitimate: there is a real danger, but other times it is false. Because agents of power cannot be seen, one must assume that they are always there. Bentham has recognized this principle and optimized it through a material reorganization of space and thus, power. It is one of many examples of power structures in architecture, such as bicycle surveillance huts, front offices of schools, and two-way glass in supermarkets. The panopticon turns the power structure upside down and turns the prisoner into "the principle of his own subjection".</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.merchantcircle.com/9252781/DSC00432_full.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://media.merchantcircle.com/9252781/DSC00432_full.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Today's networked panopticon represents a postmodern, decentralized authority. There is no longer a central tower of surveillance nor designated areas for the surveilled, but a network of electronic eyes which look over us at all times. Someone may or may not be actually watching, but the possibility remains. One person can monitor literally unlimited cameras, using a CCTV system. A company can watch over millions of square feet of property, both residential and commercial, remotely through the use of sensors, cameras, and personal identification devices.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrs4OrZazj2or9QbMD1NuRlBrapaw-jX2fLJSd40WXg4IPoFzRmSpyvJ9JBglHKAukmX5tSUL8S4DAjO573n1Su_Qbk9kAB5gbqyAevs6FMC5u7_4-ESk4bagoMzptl5UZFyWBSWP9vMAk/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-02-02+at+11.12.34+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrs4OrZazj2or9QbMD1NuRlBrapaw-jX2fLJSd40WXg4IPoFzRmSpyvJ9JBglHKAukmX5tSUL8S4DAjO573n1Su_Qbk9kAB5gbqyAevs6FMC5u7_4-ESk4bagoMzptl5UZFyWBSWP9vMAk/s320/Screen+shot+2012-02-02+at+11.12.34+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">Though actual security systems do actually watch us, fake security devices, silmulacra of an actual quasi-physical panopticon, such as the Brinks or ADT Home Security Signs, take the principle one step further. these signs are available directly from Brinks Security, and there is no need to buy the actual service; For around 40 dollars, you can get 2 official Brinks signs to stick in your landscaping and 8 window stickers. They are surprisingly not shipped from a counterfeiter in China. It is a system of implication, in leiu of actual security. There is a vast array of these objects, designed to simulate the protection of a satellite security agent. Dummy cameras, surveillance warning signs, and strange bubbles with blinking red lights suggest that one is being policed. The Police use signs such as "This roadway monitored by aircraft surveillance" and radar carts which announce your speed to let you know you may or may not be in a speed trap. It is an implied architecture, an constructed system which cannot be seen, but is omnipresent. You see physicality of the signs, but the architectural dream exists in our minds. </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/7ku1YOrxXeQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">The contemporary panopticon is almost completely dematerialized. Though it is very cloudy, the National Security Agency or Murdoch's News Corp. illustrate this. Quickly evolving non-physical spaces are monitored virtually and without a trace. But we are aware that our every internet move could possibly be recorded.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://homesecurityproviders.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Brinks-Security-Signs-and-Stickers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://homesecurityproviders.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Brinks-Security-Signs-and-Stickers.jpg" /></a>x</div><div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">The security sign, in Barthesian terms, works "because it has both sexes of sight." The sign is exemplifies the dual nature of <i>seeing</i> (in this case the physical sign) and <i>being seen</i> (by the implied surveillance system.) The sign sees because it is mythically linked to Brinks, which is hidden behind the meaning of the sign. The pure signifier, the words on the sign, and the signified, the associations we make from our own experiences and understandings of Brinks, transforms this utterly useless sign into an armiture of power. The overwhelming myth of the private security corporation provides power through associative meaning. It is a new form of panopticon, created by manipulation via mythology.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://hithechsecurity.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/wpid-51onkqwf4ol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://hithechsecurity.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/wpid-51onkqwf4ol.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Barthes states that architecture is always dream and function. The small monument, the security sign, has a powerful dream associated with it, and thus functions as a metaphorical fortification, an invisible barrier created by the very person whom it exerts power, much like Bentham's panopticon. The house is transformed into an imagined fortress, with the possibility of a system of sensors, alarms, and networked communications devices. The dream is created by the security sign, much like the Eiffel Tower transforms the Parisian landscape in to a New Romantic Nature. The object acts as a lens to distort alter our sense of reality. It creates a new perception.</span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">Is there a home security company monitoring that house? The sign in the flowers suggests that there is.</span></div>dontknockitecturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08140900682596939597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-58557125715162816572012-01-13T18:09:00.009-05:002012-01-19T09:48:02.939-05:00Architecture Beyond Building, Cartoonish Architecture, and Working The SystemI am happy to announce that I will be hosting 3 lectures as part of the <a href="http://dcrit.sva.edu/">D-Crit</a> Spring Lecture Series. (<a href="http://dcrit.sva.edu/list/events/">Full Details here</a>.) The first talk will take place on January 31, 2012 at 6 pm, at 136 W 21st St, New York. Drinks to follow.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.architectmagazine.com/blogs/post.aspx?BlogId=beyondbuildingsblog&UserName=Aaron+Betsky">Aaron Betsky</a>: Architecture Beyond Building<br />
<br />
"Architecture is not building. It is about building: it is experiencing, designing, or describing buildings. It is the theory or the essence of building. In a culture in which buildings are more and more restricted by building, life safety, and financial codes, the best architecture often appears in other media, from fiction, to film, to the visual arts. Betsky will show how we can find and present this architecture, and speculate on how such a re-presentation can itself be architecture."<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NPgx8qZCWWE/Tw4duMv6mfI/AAAAAAAAArw/DGIPyfJ3hUA/s1600/000011.JPG"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NPgx8qZCWWE/Tw4duMv6mfI/AAAAAAAAArw/DGIPyfJ3hUA/s400/000011.JPG" /></a><br />
<br />
The second will be on Feb 28, same place, same time.<br />
<br />
<div><a href="http://bureau-spectacular.net/">Jimenez Lai</a>: Cartoonish Architecture<br />
<br />
Jimenez Lai speaks about the conflation of representation, design, theory and storytelling by working through comics and translating the alternate worlds into physical installations. </div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d48ubOQ6XQU/TxC45GOqyZI/AAAAAAAAAr8/MX9OQh9F6CU/s1600/noname.jpeg"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d48ubOQ6XQU/TxC45GOqyZI/AAAAAAAAAr8/MX9OQh9F6CU/s400/noname.jpeg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>The third will be on April 17, same place, same time.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://damonrich.net/">Damon Rich</a>: Working the System</div><div><br />
</div><div>From designs for an experimental financial learning center in Queens to the first riverfront park in Newark, New Jersey, Damon Rich will share recent attempts to bring design and politics to productive crisis.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://strangeharvest.com/wp11/wordpress-content/uploads/2011/01/1294679998+.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://strangeharvest.com/wp11/wordpress-content/uploads/2011/01/1294679998+.jpg" /></a></div>dontknockitecturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08140900682596939597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-83299659419229401932012-01-11T10:47:00.000-05:002012-01-11T10:47:52.223-05:00Columbus, Indiana B-Sides, Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Welcome back. Another example of classic B-side design is the Cummins Occupational Health Center by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (1973). The firm was notorious for its playful, purposeful rejection of the International Style. All of the components can be seen in this building. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJFFrC73CYha-YdYVR-82Vg9Z3wuYDLh-ZohUwMFtSEtDGZdOkHO_3fVMWP0aE6oEyLBb9UsAZpBfOHXk2SDz9TtuBsFEU7pJ1zhsSl0CuLEU3t41l-seHfPlMHMjp6luSAMmjq_E9Uw/s1600/IMG_2591.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJFFrC73CYha-YdYVR-82Vg9Z3wuYDLh-ZohUwMFtSEtDGZdOkHO_3fVMWP0aE6oEyLBb9UsAZpBfOHXk2SDz9TtuBsFEU7pJ1zhsSl0CuLEU3t41l-seHfPlMHMjp6luSAMmjq_E9Uw/s400/IMG_2591.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Above, the use of diagonals and a whimsical extension of the reflective glass creates a canopy. The sloped covering resembles the diagonals used in residential construction of the period, and this pop architecture reference incorporates multiple styles in a collage. The best part, however, is the structural joke being played here. The tension elements tie the diagonal cross brace back, creating a point of support for the canopy above the circular driveway. This entire sculptural structure is designed to eliminate a column which would otherwise be located in the drive. Now there is a large column in the sidewalk. It is a reminder that while the architecture is world-class in Columbus, the urbanity is not. What it lacks in true urban space, it makes up for with a <a href="http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2010/06/30/a-modern-romance/" target="_blank">Dan Kiley</a> lawn. Actually, the same could be said for all of Columbus. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPyiXjn9XdYowy213MTFXyFRwz5n3YT44sBhkCXlJrXyxVxuRWakdIyeMt9GBUhsbh3Q6b95-rQlwoJeRtCA14sh1hWXMX2iPr5INWRYA4gmee0TEMgsRuhmYf3-KtF_3mxQ6B2Q3dCs/s1600/IMG_2586.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPyiXjn9XdYowy213MTFXyFRwz5n3YT44sBhkCXlJrXyxVxuRWakdIyeMt9GBUhsbh3Q6b95-rQlwoJeRtCA14sh1hWXMX2iPr5INWRYA4gmee0TEMgsRuhmYf3-KtF_3mxQ6B2Q3dCs/s400/IMG_2586.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">More dynamic Modernist elements, stylized. Technology and building systems are exposed to express the building as a machine. Each component is a different color. These are Cummins' corporate colors, but the <a href="http://52weeks.rickyberkey.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/COHA-Interior-1024x689.jpg" target="_blank">original structure was a vibrant-ish mix of green and blue</a>. (A 2008 flood did significant damage to the COHA.) A nurse who gave us a tour did not understand the original color choices, nor the low slung furniture, which she described as "Something you would see in a 70s night club". But she astutely followed up with, "But thats the way they did things back then, I guess."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H-FZ_Ch18qw/Tv5E1i8BUII/AAAAAAAABOY/LdPX_k6aj_0/s1600/IMG_2549.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H-FZ_Ch18qw/Tv5E1i8BUII/AAAAAAAABOY/LdPX_k6aj_0/s400/IMG_2549.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">HHP often deconstructed the spaces, taking the free plan to new heights. Here, a ramp connects open spaces, waiting areas, exam rooms, and peripheral hallways. This deconstruction of layout is expressed with the proto-deconstructivist architecture. The plan is a shifted grid, and prefab industrial materials are reinterpreted, a simultaneous rejection and acceptance of Modernism, respectively. The sculptural air handling system reminds us that we did indeed land in the future, but it wasn't quite the kind of utopia we had expected. Below, some beautiful precast concrete detailing, in the manner of High Modernism.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKxvbZBDI0-w0PIQlDGluoUb1O9neXReomN5FZbHcObQxUuZ1lm3PVki7_ItY_HaL_ynqO_asyYKmlkrTjTcOgyVvhST-fNI9njC927qbQWzfd7hMdteuFPKWzA1vnIXjRrGKF8bCMGmI/s1600/IMG_2571.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKxvbZBDI0-w0PIQlDGluoUb1O9neXReomN5FZbHcObQxUuZ1lm3PVki7_ItY_HaL_ynqO_asyYKmlkrTjTcOgyVvhST-fNI9njC927qbQWzfd7hMdteuFPKWzA1vnIXjRrGKF8bCMGmI/s400/IMG_2571.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Below, Mount Healthy Elementary is another masterpiece by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (1972), located 20 minutes outside of Columbus returns to the nostalgic idea of the one room school house. Here the geometric purity of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabel_McDowell_Adult_Education_Center">Warnecke's McDowell</a> (1960) was remixed, shuffled about, and smushed together to create less formal, more varied spaces for learning. The exterior evokes all of the industrial charm of the ubiquitous Midwestern city in its deployment of repetitive sawtooth forms. Mt. Healthy's color coordinated systems and pod-like office appendages add a mysterious blend of '70s Japanese and Dutch to the place. One of several pieces in Columbus, such as Paul Kennon's <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/139635/architecture-city-guide-columbus-2/courtesy-of-flickr-pntphoto/" target="_blank">SBC Switching Station</a>, to show an evolution of architecture in the late 60s and early 70s. The exposed structure (<a href="http://52weeks.rickyberkey.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2011-10-30-17-30-14_0028-1024x865.jpg" target="_blank">shown here</a>), bright colors, and formal pastiche contrasts nicely with Columbus' earlier elementary schools, such as <a href="http://moderncapitaldc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Indiana-228-532x400.jpg" target="_blank">Schmitt Elementary</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gA9b8bkJ_fU/Tv5FdSeRWqI/AAAAAAAABP4/foS1r6g0GmE/s1600/IMG_2650.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gA9b8bkJ_fU/Tv5FdSeRWqI/AAAAAAAABP4/foS1r6g0GmE/s400/IMG_2650.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Below is <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/beckers-drive-in-columbus" target="_blank">Becker's Root Beer</a>, a drive-in which @mockitecture worked at in High School. It is a very nice place to dine while perusing architecture on a spring or summer day. Beware, however, that it is only open from roughly March to October. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbLmBkJFCUXnNr30CmqqzliJHgP9v7RyU8WYfZHwvAldYg3dKzPqXdxDtUqUGAPo-F5Mo-qmMGzzSVIG4PTrOIPe4cCvVvDxNMXn-cBtIxv3MiNuMNwWbEOsPoPTunTdGGQeuRU2R2MF0/s1600/IMG_2385.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbLmBkJFCUXnNr30CmqqzliJHgP9v7RyU8WYfZHwvAldYg3dKzPqXdxDtUqUGAPo-F5Mo-qmMGzzSVIG4PTrOIPe4cCvVvDxNMXn-cBtIxv3MiNuMNwWbEOsPoPTunTdGGQeuRU2R2MF0/s400/IMG_2385.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A pagoda-like restaurant services the canopy, which is supported by beautiful googie columns. It is a contemporary of Columbus' famous buildings, and it's LA style urbanity reminds us exactly what was going on during the 50's and 60's. Cars, more specifically American cars, dominated pop culture.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64GcP5FEWfIid1RPVPa9dK-TuUN8un2eVsUper_tI519_AcDao3_YoSxxTwfAXNKMMMliCg2WVzWYvHCNfyelsWOObkakvLC324jH8lyeat_P9WSGJwzzdG292-E0C9Sh2dQLEPx6L4M/s1600/IMG_2387.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64GcP5FEWfIid1RPVPa9dK-TuUN8un2eVsUper_tI519_AcDao3_YoSxxTwfAXNKMMMliCg2WVzWYvHCNfyelsWOObkakvLC324jH8lyeat_P9WSGJwzzdG292-E0C9Sh2dQLEPx6L4M/s400/IMG_2387.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I recommend the Coney with cheese and a root beer. Or if you prefer pizza, below is Noble Romans, one of the <b>greatest commercial buildings to ever be built.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3j4vGY_WC1KUb1rGVhZDNw8gZBWP8lE-YbDvkShzrz01bGlePZHsJszri3tsDM3DLxMeSYB89XpDXJrIDZkA_ezTxxpkqL4biGEV_FdJ9OahDyheo6c5pkZ3hYlcqRMahyphenhyphenwGGuQybR8E/s1600/IMG_2431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3j4vGY_WC1KUb1rGVhZDNw8gZBWP8lE-YbDvkShzrz01bGlePZHsJszri3tsDM3DLxMeSYB89XpDXJrIDZkA_ezTxxpkqL4biGEV_FdJ9OahDyheo6c5pkZ3hYlcqRMahyphenhyphenwGGuQybR8E/s400/IMG_2431.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">It is in close proximity to Venturi's <a href="http://52weeks.rickyberkey.org/2011/07/17/week-26/2011-07-15-11-29-10-img_0996/" target="_blank">Fire House</a> #4, and it employs a curious folly-building to create a covering for the drive thru and a sign for the restaurant. The small shard building has a door (not shown) and is used for storage. It is a (literal) shed, a sign, and a structural support. Sublime. Also note the different fonts used on each "pizza".</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8TLk3Ik6Qoo/Tv1aBuKwj6I/AAAAAAAABMQ/SaOozeYjxfg/s1600/IMG_2433.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8TLk3Ik6Qoo/Tv1aBuKwj6I/AAAAAAAABMQ/SaOozeYjxfg/s400/IMG_2433.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div>Above, diagonals create a light and nimble shard, but below, Greenbelt Golf Club is a blocky, simply constructed angular building dressed in diagonal cladding.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="299" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hTRBpNM0D7M/Tv5FMLYUlyI/AAAAAAAABPA/c3xBQTBNswA/s400/IMG_2599.jpg" width="400" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The bold move of splitting such an ordinary building, breaking the simple mass apart, is celebrated by the <span class="Apple-style-span">appliqué of a supergraphic along the center crease.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSPbCHQlk8jwTaMy9Zzxa8hVo_AgDvlSXqLyGJ9herhELo2zduT9SCO32Ndth1vbsyaoLG53XzKWNF_JgEpNOhSWqu6t4zMvBPepSJBTgKcBUVGT55nfLmZVjQKv1mwkA7DeT8wVZRJU/s1600/IMG_2608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSPbCHQlk8jwTaMy9Zzxa8hVo_AgDvlSXqLyGJ9herhELo2zduT9SCO32Ndth1vbsyaoLG53XzKWNF_JgEpNOhSWqu6t4zMvBPepSJBTgKcBUVGT55nfLmZVjQKv1mwkA7DeT8wVZRJU/s400/IMG_2608.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The supersuper logo graphic faces the street, which happens to the in the rear of the building. This causes a tension between the communication and utility: the messiness of contemporary life is celebrated by the collision of a golf ball tee into air conditioning units. A massive evergreen, curiously planted in front of the logo towers two-and-one-half-fold over the Club. <u><i><b>This building is both heroic and ordinary at once.</b></i></u></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht8eeuNUqxd1Bj6ucWkUOaNJLe9BJxW1HirPfnvZwF_T161p3nE-I97QiU1l-ggYD9k64ppTuli0OwwtskEOtwS5TjUVLqTltM1KW6tirwyFoxDtYnPRwsc16UfEOHvWD3Am7MXd8wkeM/s1600/IMG_2595.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht8eeuNUqxd1Bj6ucWkUOaNJLe9BJxW1HirPfnvZwF_T161p3nE-I97QiU1l-ggYD9k64ppTuli0OwwtskEOtwS5TjUVLqTltM1KW6tirwyFoxDtYnPRwsc16UfEOHvWD3Am7MXd8wkeM/s400/IMG_2595.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Below an otherwise anonymous commercial strip is activated by an array of diagonal timber-trussed sheds for driving vehicles through. A spiraling diagonal pattern pressed into the concrete from sonotube forms reinforces the diagonality of the roofs.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u7KdUHss2wA/Tv5FfL0tPyI/AAAAAAAABQA/4mvHFkpMceA/s1600/IMG_2664.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u7KdUHss2wA/Tv5FfL0tPyI/AAAAAAAABQA/4mvHFkpMceA/s400/IMG_2664.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here a precursor to the 1990's game of wrapping websites on buildings, a stylized cartoon brick wrap on an unassuming shotgun house in the throes of Columbus. This could be read as DIY pop brick, but might be more usefuly thought of as an object of pixels and contemporary media. It's no <a href="http://52weeks.rickyberkey.org/2011/12/31/week-52/" target="_blank">Miller House</a>, Eero Saarinen and Alexander Girard's Mannerist High Modern masterpiece, but it's almost there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qNaqwF1uKYw/Tv5EyEOZpAI/AAAAAAAABOQ/xnI1_a2YeqQ/s1600/IMG_2543.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qNaqwF1uKYw/Tv5EyEOZpAI/AAAAAAAABOQ/xnI1_a2YeqQ/s400/IMG_2543.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div>N_O_R_T_O_Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622592770239984942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-14249729036196910082012-01-06T11:59:00.001-05:002012-01-06T17:07:25.881-05:00Columbus, Indiana: B-Sides, Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>"Travels from nesting space will take you to a broader cultural horizon."</i> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chinese Fortune Cookie</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-19tO-DRIVOA/Tv1PUAk0Q3I/AAAAAAAABIQ/ce8CPqAeXjw/s1600/IMG_2415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-19tO-DRIVOA/Tv1PUAk0Q3I/AAAAAAAABIQ/ce8CPqAeXjw/s400/IMG_2415.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://twitter.com/#!/n_O_R_T_O_N" target="_blank">@N_O_R_T_O_N</a> made the 1.5 hour drive over from Cincinnati to <a href="http://www.columbus.in.us/" target="_blank">Columbus, Indiana</a> to join <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/mockitecture" target="_blank">@mockitecture</a> for an architectural mystery tour. Known for its strong <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus,_Indiana#Architecture_and_art" target="_blank">High Modernist </a>roots, Columbus is an architectural circus which provides plenty of entertainment for the cultural tourist. It is "Different by Design", and many great <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Weese" target="_blank">architects</a>, <a href="http://www.paul-rand.com/" target="_blank">designers</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Moore" target="_blank">artists</a> have made their marks on the small town of 44,000. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Irwin_Miller" target="_blank">J Irwin Miller</a>, owner of <a href="http://www.cummins.com/cmi/navigationAction.do?nodeId=1000&siteId=1&nodeName=About+Cummins&menuId=1000" target="_blank">Cummins Engine Company</a>, was the benefactor who single-handedly turned Columbus into a museum of classic <a href="http://moderncapitaldc.com/2010/06/22/modern-columbus-saarinens-mid-centurymodern-irwin-union-bank-and-trust/" target="_blank">Mid-Century</a> <a href="http://architecturerevived.blogspot.com/2010/06/north-christian-church-columbus-indiana.html" target="_blank">Modernism</a>, exemplified by six National Historic Landmarks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These are the B-sides...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGAvpvBwy4xuNPUUl_OevyYPo963Z-rrsNAMIast6d_EZKeoRlmRzIMb1LVlxRvAnhnaz88DfY2ePy2Hg23k-ar_Po8Z0Tm_NNOChNDkKTFlNHE8no4wvjE76pDN-PQhyphenhyphennOt9gPmVPr4/s1600/IMG_2417+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGAvpvBwy4xuNPUUl_OevyYPo963Z-rrsNAMIast6d_EZKeoRlmRzIMb1LVlxRvAnhnaz88DfY2ePy2Hg23k-ar_Po8Z0Tm_NNOChNDkKTFlNHE8no4wvjE76pDN-PQhyphenhyphennOt9gPmVPr4/s400/IMG_2417+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">An abandoned mall, architect unknown: Fair Oaks Mall is an early nineties masterpiece, an upscale shopping center with an edge. When first erected, it contained many of the hottest stores, such as Foot Locker, and took business away from Cesar Pelli's downtown <a href="http://www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca/faculty_projects/terri/commons.html" target="_blank">Commons Mall.</a> Ironically, Fair Oaks is now nearly abandoned, with mainly local and seasonal shops struggling to fill the spaces (literally and metaphorically) vacated by the large chain stores. It is an abandoned late Post-modern mall, about a quarter mile from Robert Stern's <a href="http://www.ramsa.com/projects-search/healthcare/columbus.html" target="_blank">Columbus Regional Hospital</a>, which was built almost simultaneously.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcG0f5vKKgwWMhOXO0-sna5MHWtIX6Uz-MATw-M88rfU5Wv3-mAHStdJuZbRcUtc5LFWxrQfHpfnEpYnUslHaICsYn5Ek8CJU_xBySHZFJ724Np9xeWpVlQ9uuD_D2b4uplUb_YX36Pw/s1600/IMG_2397.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcG0f5vKKgwWMhOXO0-sna5MHWtIX6Uz-MATw-M88rfU5Wv3-mAHStdJuZbRcUtc5LFWxrQfHpfnEpYnUslHaICsYn5Ek8CJU_xBySHZFJ724Np9xeWpVlQ9uuD_D2b4uplUb_YX36Pw/s400/IMG_2397.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Above, neon is used in two ways. There are small architectural shapes scattered, floating throughout the tile-clad mall. Red, blue, and yellow neon is also masterfully tucked into reveals, creating a three-tiered architectural massing/ornament combo which pairs well with the large skylight above the Christmas and palm trees. It is the architecture of an electronic age.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxei0MwolH_m9LBq6UIJqmmSOe4WsfRjZ-wckcjn1zVAq27PnBHLY9WkmwJSZ0uIPaOYVJHer_l-YAADYCJrMJEvq0aXQdkjteLyg2udH0uCydjbvgoe137xoFA9x4mSvMvq2QgZpX_Eg/s1600/IMG_2390+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxei0MwolH_m9LBq6UIJqmmSOe4WsfRjZ-wckcjn1zVAq27PnBHLY9WkmwJSZ0uIPaOYVJHer_l-YAADYCJrMJEvq0aXQdkjteLyg2udH0uCydjbvgoe137xoFA9x4mSvMvq2QgZpX_Eg/s400/IMG_2390+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Each store front is customized for the store. This was a novelty/party store. The signage was bright, and the store was full of all sorts of naughty sundries. Now all that is left is memories and a bit of tile which vaguely resembles a nightclub. Also note the tile patterns in the floor.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T_yBcUFwCLI/Tv1TcR2kRgI/AAAAAAAABI4/UECeEJ9KRzY/s1600/IMG_2388+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T_yBcUFwCLI/Tv1TcR2kRgI/AAAAAAAABI4/UECeEJ9KRzY/s400/IMG_2388+copy.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>Above is one of the many strains of marble used in the mall to denote a jewelry store. These small window displays were used to glorify their contents, but sadly all are empty.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggsNdJRK8SfEuK03c3ap7uc681SrZr6GQzo7L_nkstYKC8Ig5sSf1OzbhQ0RELSZYfUlsOxV0XkauIiULdFP3Q3uewCqhv9eLRA7cF0e25jkJlIDcW0LXmhoLD5oEZ4OKGOli51Zh7NwI/s1600/IMG_2403+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggsNdJRK8SfEuK03c3ap7uc681SrZr6GQzo7L_nkstYKC8Ig5sSf1OzbhQ0RELSZYfUlsOxV0XkauIiULdFP3Q3uewCqhv9eLRA7cF0e25jkJlIDcW0LXmhoLD5oEZ4OKGOli51Zh7NwI/s400/IMG_2403+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Another tile pattern outside of a jewelry store. In this example, the jeweler's cases are now used for <a href="http://www.nascar.com/" target="_blank">NASCAR</a> memorabilia (Tony Stewart is from Columbus, Indiana). Below is the former food court, which is now completely empty. The man sitting on the counter underneath the beautiful tiles is a construction worker. This shot shows the neon dancing through the ghost mall. Pretty amazing stuff.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5eGYXtGJUw28I1_TbSdmAob7h-UcI1o1fEQNe_w8R2V8hLVqHruKBj3UDlyxO9K7FXSpSXAKIuwAAL18YX2ScHBTCTbbaAlwQ5KO6xskWXEtEX45UQ5KUsRoHGT48Zv3gX94EeBs0-pk/s1600/IMG_2412+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5eGYXtGJUw28I1_TbSdmAob7h-UcI1o1fEQNe_w8R2V8hLVqHruKBj3UDlyxO9K7FXSpSXAKIuwAAL18YX2ScHBTCTbbaAlwQ5KO6xskWXEtEX45UQ5KUsRoHGT48Zv3gX94EeBs0-pk/s400/IMG_2412+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On a more serious note, here is the story of Mannerist Brutalism...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Two notable elementary schools worth comparing are Southside and Smith, located on opposite sides of town. They were both built in 1969 by separate members of the Harvard Five: Elliot Noyes and John Johansen respectively.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Below, </span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Southside Elementary (Elliot Noyes, 1969) is classic American Campus High Modernist Brutalism, a</span>ppropriately scaled <span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">for small children. Brutalism is one form of High Modernism. This school is on the nice side of town, and is where <a href="http://twitter.com/mockitecture" target="_blank">@mockitecture</a> went for High School dances, though he went to elementary school at Southside's rival, </span><a href="http://52weeks.rickyberkey.org/2011/02/13/week-7/" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" target="_blank">Parkside Elementary.</a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z7c_0tt7bEU/Tv5FXh3uL9I/AAAAAAAABPg/XwZd_AtdCNU/s1600/IMG_2632.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z7c_0tt7bEU/Tv5FXh3uL9I/AAAAAAAABPg/XwZd_AtdCNU/s400/IMG_2632.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Noyes' building presents a no nonsense approach to geometrical and organizational purity (what one might expect from a high modernist) through a near perfect symmetry and an all encompassing, relentless repetition of concrete planes. We sense a monumental purity and definitive authority when in the presence of this building. Arguably, the only ornament on this school are the security cameras mounted noticeably about. This is all comically inappropriate for an elementary school.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAtuc1Umv0vv9KCwL75DpQeeDWsFa6dGgMuuJb0cVQlTd9LFB481WS79jMqTdqbcfklTSqpT5KA0sTtLd50RX57consV5HwdjBr_SxalqOr_vg6L8IAgV_-x6NYD8jA96XI_DKozja3S0/s1600/IMG_2630.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAtuc1Umv0vv9KCwL75DpQeeDWsFa6dGgMuuJb0cVQlTd9LFB481WS79jMqTdqbcfklTSqpT5KA0sTtLd50RX57consV5HwdjBr_SxalqOr_vg6L8IAgV_-x6NYD8jA96XI_DKozja3S0/s400/IMG_2630.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Across town, in the style of Mannerist Brutalism, <span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">L Frances Smith Elementary (1969) by John Johansen </span>pulls off the seemingly impossible: undermining the absolute truths of Noyes' building. Johansen's building feels more dynamic as its internal rooms are expressed individually rather than collectively, and scattered about the grounds of the school. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VQZ1WY1XKcg/Tv1WUA8DqGI/AAAAAAAABKc/sVMGaUQaMN4/s1600/IMG_2470.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VQZ1WY1XKcg/Tv1WUA8DqGI/AAAAAAAABKc/sVMGaUQaMN4/s400/IMG_2470.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">The secret is that many of Columbus' buildings pioneer the idea of Mannerist High Modernism (in this case Mannerist Brutalism) in architecture. In Smith's case, Johansen sought a more human condition in his buildings, both in scale and form, breaking from the establishment Modernism of contemporaries like Noyes and I.M. Pei, who also studied under Gropius. Pei designed the </span><a href="http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/colspei/colspei.html" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Cleo Rogers Library</a><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> in Columbus.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCwSQOIcWVdhVZ24AobLoFLsJXKK3EkcO8Q27594awZpOdj1FoKCxZL03-3rEaBYC35FGIWcOCQQfdZqKUWmxzokZMFXB0CUaHlr1D7O57GhaaI2LuXfsLUMzVcIXAMiVlLHwR37lj9lg/s1600/IMG_2498.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCwSQOIcWVdhVZ24AobLoFLsJXKK3EkcO8Q27594awZpOdj1FoKCxZL03-3rEaBYC35FGIWcOCQQfdZqKUWmxzokZMFXB0CUaHlr1D7O57GhaaI2LuXfsLUMzVcIXAMiVlLHwR37lj9lg/s400/IMG_2498.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="text-align: left;">The origins of Johansen's eventual </span>exuberant, colorful mashups, <span style="text-align: left;">based on orthogonal reinforced concrete construction and systems theory, are evident above in this arrangement of quasi-brutalist solids joined by brightly colored steel tubes.</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9f2ayqxXPQN377J1VXiIr9-Z4syz0zWCtW7UDfxSSIwa7Voi8NewNL7kdHCu4aDLMsbg0DqRT4GNuc3QNKWFksFEla7urDjPgZmPuQDpOu0mjq0ECqjRsJZoitDjHuMIOqvGweYdVmP4/s1600/IMG_2492.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9f2ayqxXPQN377J1VXiIr9-Z4syz0zWCtW7UDfxSSIwa7Voi8NewNL7kdHCu4aDLMsbg0DqRT4GNuc3QNKWFksFEla7urDjPgZmPuQDpOu0mjq0ECqjRsJZoitDjHuMIOqvGweYdVmP4/s400/IMG_2492.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Johansen's reaction to the Noyes High Modernism camp is hugely significant as it situates the struggle to establish a well mannered Mannerism within the context of dying High Modernism by injecting brightly colored vitality into existing architecture trends. (see Johansen's 1970's <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=Mummers+Theater&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=i3gGT4ClIsLr0QHwu6TAAg&ved=0CD8QsAQ&biw=1439&bih=736">Mummers Theater</a> in Oklahoma City for a more radical version of this Mannerist High Modernism (MHM)). </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s6DSTdiDr58/Tv1WeZGtOHI/AAAAAAAABLM/q9p6EGbTAoo/s1600/IMG_2496.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s6DSTdiDr58/Tv1WeZGtOHI/AAAAAAAABLM/q9p6EGbTAoo/s400/IMG_2496.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Above, a sidewalk in the sky, in the manner of Brutalism. It is a painted steel tube and is also only about 15 feet in the sky. Below, The 1997 expansion is exquisite and is one of many renovation/additions which has been carefully executed in Columbus.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQ3jYNWNcJXoK5S4SVqKrMdIHedjqo_1tD_wbFmFvzLTbz92geADsyQDtwY5CiD97_YdMaLfzZjMBexRsV_2akdXQ66P2xRmQCu0KlW9fV7QRqRIPHu36tW-E5M_IkW8FM99H91D40HU/s1600/IMG_2486.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQ3jYNWNcJXoK5S4SVqKrMdIHedjqo_1tD_wbFmFvzLTbz92geADsyQDtwY5CiD97_YdMaLfzZjMBexRsV_2akdXQ66P2xRmQCu0KlW9fV7QRqRIPHu36tW-E5M_IkW8FM99H91D40HU/s400/IMG_2486.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A tunnel connects an entrance to the office. Unfortunately Smith's signage is not obnoxiously big and on the floor below, thats a rug.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWVEJyAHu-HTTK45hzBIDk2wDiOzrA34S_VXFX-_9hCgt_IQeKYEvxEHqqXBqSAHN8M6sXEUleBwiKif-gSy9LCLFaAGI_YRup4aCaQrwwoqAfo4ctB_g0Of7zw6Z2qyyslIDbzCZaOnA/s1600/IMG_2489.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWVEJyAHu-HTTK45hzBIDk2wDiOzrA34S_VXFX-_9hCgt_IQeKYEvxEHqqXBqSAHN8M6sXEUleBwiKif-gSy9LCLFaAGI_YRup4aCaQrwwoqAfo4ctB_g0Of7zw6Z2qyyslIDbzCZaOnA/s400/IMG_2489.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div>Our last stop of the day was the Holiday Inn. It's everydayness - its hotel-ness - is hidden within an insanely intense fictional experience. All sense of reality and time is lost within the hotel's old-new indoor "public spaces". One might be tipped off at the collapsing of history and reality immediately upon entering. The brick facade and the Inn's latest 2000's addition is terrifyingly back-dated to 1884. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHlqz0ri-b1qqwJc01QsnzKLMB18oWABsGRkqAdXyXyLAC3OxEP86GPH9_bg6P6gdP5nVG5FH5QIDSdxJXLLQw27KDpnZLIZrTJy1EWKRW1WD3JvV1rrJf2lFcauZedGW04k_ivBYELCs/s1600/IMG_2531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHlqz0ri-b1qqwJc01QsnzKLMB18oWABsGRkqAdXyXyLAC3OxEP86GPH9_bg6P6gdP5nVG5FH5QIDSdxJXLLQw27KDpnZLIZrTJy1EWKRW1WD3JvV1rrJf2lFcauZedGW04k_ivBYELCs/s400/IMG_2531.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
An undersized faux marble statue of Christopher Columbus greets visitors in the main lobby, with a strangely dangling cartoon bubble hanging over his head. He proclaims how wonderful he has found Columbus, Indiana to be. Nevermind that the town was settled only a mere 300+ years after his death. This mind-bending alternative history, expressed through an impossible object, is a perfect metaphor for Columbus Holiday Inn's hallucinatory atmosphere. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1oveaQPrWxBJKKWMONT29u4uDNRet7maB510xm3xjvY_x2R4cNvc5oiwRqqw0s9rSayTzsSZEBlLfx0aagj1SU0A-VqMCOg3IiROpXQlPN9gxCUgmOfVgjOPYbacefa-NGJECRqZ9VU/s1600/IMG_2523.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1oveaQPrWxBJKKWMONT29u4uDNRet7maB510xm3xjvY_x2R4cNvc5oiwRqqw0s9rSayTzsSZEBlLfx0aagj1SU0A-VqMCOg3IiROpXQlPN9gxCUgmOfVgjOPYbacefa-NGJECRqZ9VU/s400/IMG_2523.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><span style="text-align: left;">Mashing together history creates an escapist fantasy-land, while ideas of interior and exterior are also blurred. Below, a man takes it all in on the "street", while a hotel guest gets information at the front desk.</span><br />
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d9ciJoI5R9Q/Tv1b32xQehI/AAAAAAAABNU/MEOow86lXxw/s1600/IMG_2519.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d9ciJoI5R9Q/Tv1b32xQehI/AAAAAAAABNU/MEOow86lXxw/s400/IMG_2519.jpg" width="298" /></a><br />
These steampunk elevators incorporate carnival lighting, creating one of the strongest mashups of histories and environments. The lights don't make sense, but they work well to celebrate the elevator doors. This wood lattice is overused to perfection, taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary. When contrasted with the lights, this space comes alive. These fictional designs blur the line between imaginary and real by disintegrating genres and the lines of traditional building typologies.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu8koqpcl_J9ClIMcDexQrTASXPe1_8NG5VZzlPqHbDZCpMpdbBbCaSvPVMwkJyv0x29sVYUJPNuwlg19JXNF5UyVtoEXio1Kins9mfL2V539XdosvP3OHXZLvYi37nHyx2t7hF6i0S0I/s1600/IMG_2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu8koqpcl_J9ClIMcDexQrTASXPe1_8NG5VZzlPqHbDZCpMpdbBbCaSvPVMwkJyv0x29sVYUJPNuwlg19JXNF5UyVtoEXio1Kins9mfL2V539XdosvP3OHXZLvYi37nHyx2t7hF6i0S0I/s400/IMG_2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>A bit further down the brick lined street-hallway, past the barber shop and boutique candy shop, are two signs which continue the hybridized history theme. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLyCEvB-lI0XxT8EX9tB_x865eucqtsbMSkZNfMYpd7cXNqBJcC24hOmnNhFljF7fFpEUut8uGL8Qg6JBfFY72MpajVdHcV7eGU67gshu0QW7cnNOgwothWi9UNkTYKLq_jPhBO8zU2vI/s1600/IMG_2514.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLyCEvB-lI0XxT8EX9tB_x865eucqtsbMSkZNfMYpd7cXNqBJcC24hOmnNhFljF7fFpEUut8uGL8Qg6JBfFY72MpajVdHcV7eGU67gshu0QW7cnNOgwothWi9UNkTYKLq_jPhBO8zU2vI/s400/IMG_2514.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="text-align: center;">Here, an American Western log cabin style sign, above, has been placed next to an Olde English Victorian themed sign, below.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E6fy_WxLghY/Tv1b1AK1svI/AAAAAAAABNM/07qe4TgPWJ4/s1600/IMG_2516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E6fy_WxLghY/Tv1b1AK1svI/AAAAAAAABNM/07qe4TgPWJ4/s400/IMG_2516.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Behind this is a miniature gothic church model holding a list showing the location of all churches in Columbus. The ornate detailing found in the hotel brings a slice of Disneyland to Columbus, IN. The dramatic lighting turns this hotel lobby into a stage set for... staying at a hotel. The building tells an epic about vacation, about getting away to another place. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aKMwIXqACy4/Tv1buIivSoI/AAAAAAAABM8/qTd9b9_V3u0/s1600/IMG_2513.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aKMwIXqACy4/Tv1buIivSoI/AAAAAAAABM8/qTd9b9_V3u0/s400/IMG_2513.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Passing through the dining room and its period furniture replicas from the victorian era, lies the main attraction - the famed Holidome. A Holidome is a special recreation area featured at select Holiday Inn's. They typically are a souped up indoor pool area, with an arcade, sauna, hottub, etc. This is a particularly fantastic Holidome; the indoor-outdoor space features street lamps, brick lined walks, covered porches, shutters & siding, and a covered bridge. The only indication of being indoors is the potent smell of chlorine from the pool in the center of the 'dome. The feel of the Holidome is decidedly early nostalgic suburban village. It possibly exists as a model of Columbus (pre-1950s) in a box within the actual City of Columbus, but at times feels more like a romanticized collective view of a fantasized nostalgia for a utopian past. The Holidome offers visitors to Columbus a taste of their own imaginations about the quintissential small Midwestern town. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5DKTLJ2wLhY/Tv1brW5lamI/AAAAAAAABM0/hEYT2famWb0/s1600/IMG_2509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5DKTLJ2wLhY/Tv1brW5lamI/AAAAAAAABM0/hEYT2famWb0/s400/IMG_2509.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of the best things about Holidome is the deconstruction of interior and exterior, shown above by the indoor pool, and below by the interior window to the inside, complete with faux shutters.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q5kwunTaYQs/Tv1b_AgM1GI/AAAAAAAABNk/GM0OsuNBkvc/s1600/IMG_2527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q5kwunTaYQs/Tv1b_AgM1GI/AAAAAAAABNk/GM0OsuNBkvc/s400/IMG_2527.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>The experience as a whole rapidly jumps from promoting American and English nostalgia. Upon exiting, a few other formal gestures hinted at the madness within. <span style="text-align: center;">Mannerist, over-scaled elements found along the side of the Holidome.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZ-8FMN-l0U7ZDtEoeUCjT3MZfm_R1pGDjm2bzqLW_px7pNs_EM_X2Haf8PHBkduZY1JRoLH4K_xh5CiqEMmmxdQIAHozfZTh6lGqGz5ZzVZWyvqbrxnZzVZJ7Md4vSZHIwNYlSMlHCk/s1600/IMG_2536.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZ-8FMN-l0U7ZDtEoeUCjT3MZfm_R1pGDjm2bzqLW_px7pNs_EM_X2Haf8PHBkduZY1JRoLH4K_xh5CiqEMmmxdQIAHozfZTh6lGqGz5ZzVZWyvqbrxnZzVZJ7Md4vSZHIwNYlSMlHCk/s400/IMG_2536.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Perhaps the romantiscism of the Holiday Inn from the 70s was a small, but heroic, attempt at reclaiming territory all but lost through Columbus' wave of modernism, offering - at a time of decorationless geometrical and functional rigor - an alternative future for Columbus. But it's more likely that this building is designed for a different set of people than the JI Miller-sponsored classics. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>To be continued....</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>N_O_R_T_O_Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622592770239984942noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-23393445690605259362011-12-24T12:52:00.002-05:002011-12-30T00:32:08.040-05:00An Alternative History of the Christmas OrnamentThe Christmas ornament is a curious object. Its success is directly dependent on its ability to legibly communicate symbols of nostalgia, religion, and/or popular culture. The evolution of the ornament has been (perhaps accidentally) documented through the US Patent process and digitized for the masses via <a href="http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=christmas+ornament">Google</a>.<br />
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<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmeOczrTiyzrATbrSxHyPuEc8dpzCBqya4O5mKerNAx68_j-VH5GzQ4JDIQXm8oUGu1znIc94ycQQ61TQq9-yJ3HrlrqKxvNwZtS6MmXqUV5qVCUekHooaAZIiTee3ustVPfKpAZPu_VA/s1600/US424916-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmeOczrTiyzrATbrSxHyPuEc8dpzCBqya4O5mKerNAx68_j-VH5GzQ4JDIQXm8oUGu1znIc94ycQQ61TQq9-yJ3HrlrqKxvNwZtS6MmXqUV5qVCUekHooaAZIiTee3ustVPfKpAZPu_VA/s320/US424916-1.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60TdAUdmophvSCV-RctAvPs_85j5OnSeZWx4TLHLK0Xlsn1U_X929vXsGSFLwsERqZkHjhcnPbOl8vGELHhseyjRzhfqkMwfUAvmCa6jEf7SVT8E_JRWZDHb33ucQSudvgID8fu1rKlY/s1600/primitive_hut.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60TdAUdmophvSCV-RctAvPs_85j5OnSeZWx4TLHLK0Xlsn1U_X929vXsGSFLwsERqZkHjhcnPbOl8vGELHhseyjRzhfqkMwfUAvmCa6jEf7SVT8E_JRWZDHb33ucQSudvgID8fu1rKlY/s320/primitive_hut.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Early ornaments evoke a somewhat mystical, <i>Primitive Hut</i> phase of decoration. These late-19th century decorations were composed of natural tree twigs, small beads and fabrics, manipulated into primitive geometric shapes of circles and ovals. </div><div><blockquote class="tr_bq">"It will be seen that the ornament is of a brilliant and beautiful nature, its beauty being increased by covering the balls with colored floss-silk, said silk being wound around the balls and concealing the periphery thereof." - Bernhard Wilmsen, US Patent No. 424,916, ca. 1890 (pictured above)</blockquote><div>As the complexity of ornamentation grew in the early to mid 20th century, it was possible to embed new narratives into the object. These stories were most notably driven by either religion or family heritage.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7SPBjrZJovisgMSvlLhy6UyiXIFVXk_U3cs0NDgdftSAjaXW44ss0Z0neHP38j-9fAxigUj1ZXxpMteJ0MQzLLuvh5Z-eAZXiITq-2FqDJj97HoOZmsBahWZvJJSkxEePZnJbLOmoNZc/s1600/1940-US2234835.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7SPBjrZJovisgMSvlLhy6UyiXIFVXk_U3cs0NDgdftSAjaXW44ss0Z0neHP38j-9fAxigUj1ZXxpMteJ0MQzLLuvh5Z-eAZXiITq-2FqDJj97HoOZmsBahWZvJJSkxEePZnJbLOmoNZc/s320/1940-US2234835.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq">"the entire assembly will be of attractive appearance and will, when agitated, respond with a bell-like tinkle." - John Sexton, US Patent No. 328,708, ca. 1940</blockquote>Geometrical complexity was driven by the popularity of the star as religious symbol:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tN-wekGrDHg/TvU7dy_F2_I/AAAAAAAABFc/TW3hGmB3buk/s1600/1936-US2059653-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tN-wekGrDHg/TvU7dy_F2_I/AAAAAAAABFc/TW3hGmB3buk/s320/1936-US2059653-1.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Millard Pretzfelder's "Christmas Tree Ornament," ca. 1936.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SXUIoyQXYYg/TvU7gBF5FxI/AAAAAAAABGE/IKF4w0OoXa4/s1600/1966-USD206124-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SXUIoyQXYYg/TvU7gBF5FxI/AAAAAAAABGE/IKF4w0OoXa4/s320/1966-USD206124-1.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jack Burnbaum's "Christmas Ornament," ca. 1966.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div>As three-dimensional ducks emerged to compete with two-dimensional decorated sheds, new innovations in the structuring of ornaments were required. The hook evolving from an object of utility to an object of desire:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbH971zovKoyuUTV5KkHTDC6pcO-ZESb9GnbsJ6mguVAA9lh8MP7YhlkbUc1CEn1z64PBa9RRC-Xz0b6Tpi0I23AKjw7MdngdwjWw5NZGKVvz7x3Shy4poJchsQNLXvluC2IskP9Dx2hA/s1600/1990-US4909466-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbH971zovKoyuUTV5KkHTDC6pcO-ZESb9GnbsJ6mguVAA9lh8MP7YhlkbUc1CEn1z64PBa9RRC-Xz0b6Tpi0I23AKjw7MdngdwjWw5NZGKVvz7x3Shy4poJchsQNLXvluC2IskP9Dx2hA/s320/1990-US4909466-1.jpg" width="191" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">JoAnn Matthews' "Christmas Ornament Hook," ca. 1990.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgU8CKJZnCiJPvm_XjU4wh7xJ3Ow9v8W_qLJWwSDg4kvkkU2jBU8ac_TugXusz0yscZWNNSX4P3dFmKjhYOwJqk3xWstDp2IkR9u5py4zOxMee41MqRIg_PCfWURpxmiSPGpFZJd2KcHM/s1600/1995-US5383638.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgU8CKJZnCiJPvm_XjU4wh7xJ3Ow9v8W_qLJWwSDg4kvkkU2jBU8ac_TugXusz0yscZWNNSX4P3dFmKjhYOwJqk3xWstDp2IkR9u5py4zOxMee41MqRIg_PCfWURpxmiSPGpFZJd2KcHM/s320/1995-US5383638.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Dale Dieringer's "Christmas Ornament Hanger," ca. 1995.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f4Tf_amDk-s/TvU1ZnSli7I/AAAAAAAABDk/MoVJdzbQPLw/s1600/1998-USD398516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f4Tf_amDk-s/TvU1ZnSli7I/AAAAAAAABDk/MoVJdzbQPLw/s320/1998-USD398516.jpg" width="98" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">John Brown's "Ornamental Hook," ca. 1998.</div></div><div><br />
And while the representation of some patents lacked inspiration in the laziest of ways...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGlCexV4AG81wM6b6hVdEinM3Hg-uY7w9uWAcmE68E6pLKMG7oPtzetqx2IXZyu28dIC5GdoRov3qKy_qdM8mk4G3FiP9SzH_qcrKDeoQE286MsSONC0e7GKAEEIVklrYpqeUzxDOdx6c/s1600/1993-US5270100.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGlCexV4AG81wM6b6hVdEinM3Hg-uY7w9uWAcmE68E6pLKMG7oPtzetqx2IXZyu28dIC5GdoRov3qKy_qdM8mk4G3FiP9SzH_qcrKDeoQE286MsSONC0e7GKAEEIVklrYpqeUzxDOdx6c/s320/1993-US5270100.png" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Anthony Giglio's "Phosphorescent Coloring Method" applied to a Christmas ornament, ca. 1993.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJrowZD9xjq5IipTKhJpU7QemI36w3TRR3-N-9Ips0A2PLtk4x6CJSPS6Mwehs768XBI5BSlWQYendX-qRNYeIkFcqAKeIQ4Z5B5XZ6fUGAtChuMV_HAr5G7j9xZljyWiXyzSXmyV29c0/s1600/1995-USD356521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJrowZD9xjq5IipTKhJpU7QemI36w3TRR3-N-9Ips0A2PLtk4x6CJSPS6Mwehs768XBI5BSlWQYendX-qRNYeIkFcqAKeIQ4Z5B5XZ6fUGAtChuMV_HAr5G7j9xZljyWiXyzSXmyV29c0/s320/1995-USD356521.jpg" width="104" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Dominik Grube's "Combined Card and Christmas Tree Ornament," ca. 1995.</div><br />
</div><div>...others succeeded. We found the most compelling ornaments to be those which sought to perform double (or sometimes triple) duty. Tree watering devices, fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, and so on all camouflaged as ornaments. We've labelled these as heroic objects, and seek to find their architectural equivalent someday.</div><div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5TWpvICtTEM/TvUvFwAe2VI/AAAAAAAABB8/buVNpQZhpAI/s1600/1978-US4113020-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5TWpvICtTEM/TvUvFwAe2VI/AAAAAAAABB8/buVNpQZhpAI/s320/1978-US4113020-1.jpg" width="236" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ECzpL1h8LgR-VOwcZ4M9mEe3ViWbV7UK_T9y8r6-ytsf3gYNspmovl5g5rJ3xzwDV5GE-CyKlkdmvQEVNga0KGKPRmeOmXYEEnOwU5ecqajrrzPGABzxXDiJsBZAtw7eP2ZReDnXnQk/s1600/1978-US4113020-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ECzpL1h8LgR-VOwcZ4M9mEe3ViWbV7UK_T9y8r6-ytsf3gYNspmovl5g5rJ3xzwDV5GE-CyKlkdmvQEVNga0KGKPRmeOmXYEEnOwU5ecqajrrzPGABzxXDiJsBZAtw7eP2ZReDnXnQk/s320/1978-US4113020-2.jpg" width="201" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Anthony Panetta's "Fire Safety Christmas Ornament," ca. 1978.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--O-1WrM5VdE/TvUvHh0NVSI/AAAAAAAABCM/KV0FfHMZ4wQ/s1600/1983-US4418497-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--O-1WrM5VdE/TvUvHh0NVSI/AAAAAAAABCM/KV0FfHMZ4wQ/s320/1983-US4418497-1.jpg" width="249" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQu7t9PLo7OIBhMlWWlbTedcQds8PDTFkg7YR1q2CGLueP9VQtuDSthw96PveLLXuD7PHXqppf4wX_m9s1Uvh2DbL6L8RDJ1NMeR9JG_QDOWjRqI-NDLEWUGaMQp68_LKXe6UDGg7Jkg/s1600/1983-US4418497-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQu7t9PLo7OIBhMlWWlbTedcQds8PDTFkg7YR1q2CGLueP9VQtuDSthw96PveLLXuD7PHXqppf4wX_m9s1Uvh2DbL6L8RDJ1NMeR9JG_QDOWjRqI-NDLEWUGaMQp68_LKXe6UDGg7Jkg/s320/1983-US4418497-2.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Michael Mastriano's "Combination Greeting Card, Ornament, and Seed Germination Box," ca. 1983.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg30awvQuifEbqGYJFi6wz9RsGceIwvGYTOlISwC8RFvPOblU7cfNtPmt998nohsDEKI9o_aVvmBi-6F-K0OLd8nA7lrSQajRc0pf3aBNAxZQRYjO2A8QSX-XWKHwH8DcbUMuBYe_utnK0/s1600/1991-US5054236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg30awvQuifEbqGYJFi6wz9RsGceIwvGYTOlISwC8RFvPOblU7cfNtPmt998nohsDEKI9o_aVvmBi-6F-K0OLd8nA7lrSQajRc0pf3aBNAxZQRYjO2A8QSX-XWKHwH8DcbUMuBYe_utnK0/s320/1991-US5054236.jpg" width="178" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Katie Sands' "Christmas Tree Self-Watering Ornament," ca. 1991.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GcRZ57sLSx4/TvUvJdMR1xI/AAAAAAAABCk/mz3O50fbdcY/s1600/1996-USD373939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GcRZ57sLSx4/TvUvJdMR1xI/AAAAAAAABCk/mz3O50fbdcY/s320/1996-USD373939.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ken Swerdlick's "Christmas Tree Watering Ornament," ca. 1996.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuqTgiNea6OGdKcJk2i_sIOmqk326XQ6C0cjC7_Fl1oTItI61jrIXKNmXCPHoLYF0ZLnJvE3ewBUT6-_R-NtIlz09IaaxI7Q4Z0pxdOzpIaOCOu6_lEew0iiH-z2_b5VpLHGh6ARLdN3Q/s1600/1999-US5867929.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuqTgiNea6OGdKcJk2i_sIOmqk326XQ6C0cjC7_Fl1oTItI61jrIXKNmXCPHoLYF0ZLnJvE3ewBUT6-_R-NtIlz09IaaxI7Q4Z0pxdOzpIaOCOu6_lEew0iiH-z2_b5VpLHGh6ARLdN3Q/s320/1999-US5867929.jpg" width="146" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Yeoun Soo Jung's "E-Z Christmas Tree Waterer," ca. 1996.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQhmlFHAgz4C95g3EvTuyB60V0kXo9Td5FwHfCscGqY-pOUeegF99Hj7KqrItrLyReDE0U4rSIiIW1O28C8hDa0Kqo88thPB3f9SeZyTghX95CB6NZk4MueJZC2D64NeSbPdB6B5kd_nM/s1600/1999-US5880676.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQhmlFHAgz4C95g3EvTuyB60V0kXo9Td5FwHfCscGqY-pOUeegF99Hj7KqrItrLyReDE0U4rSIiIW1O28C8hDa0Kqo88thPB3f9SeZyTghX95CB6NZk4MueJZC2D64NeSbPdB6B5kd_nM/s320/1999-US5880676.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Peiki Tsou's "Christmas Tree Ornament-Shaped Fire Alarm," ca. 1997.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Until then, Merry Christmas, you guys...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-urKwZzBW5OY/TvYN_jZwlMI/AAAAAAAABHA/GhKpoCtYby8/s1600/1990-US309875.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-urKwZzBW5OY/TvYN_jZwlMI/AAAAAAAABHA/GhKpoCtYby8/s320/1990-US309875.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Brigette Talevski's "Santa Claws," ca. 1990.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jsk73FrAEM8/TvYOATniZwI/AAAAAAAABHI/FfmupV7Hgxk/s1600/1990-US4939004-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jsk73FrAEM8/TvYOATniZwI/AAAAAAAABHI/FfmupV7Hgxk/s320/1990-US4939004-1.jpg" width="216" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GqokdcdRkos/TvYOA3h30jI/AAAAAAAABHQ/lVowhClv87g/s1600/1990-US4939004-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GqokdcdRkos/TvYOA3h30jI/AAAAAAAABHQ/lVowhClv87g/s320/1990-US4939004-2.jpg" width="221" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1QVAdEBblnQhRmRMTIVjaazbi-JEHYmPssoYgtoFfE8w6zPaRZ7WL03R9TAl2C3FBKHHtPFh8FNwUQN_L2VdYwJUFl80tBdZklyhyUNNgVhCCvAbTPoUQplBBuX9Wg_YmNrKhRbRIgk/s1600/1990-US4939004-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1QVAdEBblnQhRmRMTIVjaazbi-JEHYmPssoYgtoFfE8w6zPaRZ7WL03R9TAl2C3FBKHHtPFh8FNwUQN_L2VdYwJUFl80tBdZklyhyUNNgVhCCvAbTPoUQplBBuX9Wg_YmNrKhRbRIgk/s320/1990-US4939004-3.jpg" width="277" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lloyd Fuss' "Christmas Tree Ornament," ca. 1990.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZmbDp48QKxd2MKl0ImPW_xR1-Rosl0pakhW8DTajcbx3aEQ10Tg2516TwNESfMl2uknBKuwCHAsJ7sTBJZ5bgIUVfu7o6um2wh7Bf3TOS7aEGxmcvhrTlpMKxnXPPP0Y-8e9AiUszJk/s1600/1993-US332925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZmbDp48QKxd2MKl0ImPW_xR1-Rosl0pakhW8DTajcbx3aEQ10Tg2516TwNESfMl2uknBKuwCHAsJ7sTBJZ5bgIUVfu7o6um2wh7Bf3TOS7aEGxmcvhrTlpMKxnXPPP0Y-8e9AiUszJk/s320/1993-US332925.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Brian Kucheran's "Christmas Ornament," ca. 1993.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PmSLFNK9dgySXLb8aHkLk-DTom1dF_Fp8otrfqOCcHQL1I4Ahj56S_3C9waxgPrMRtA8cGHH13rVWFIEEG7ewnCNJS5fAHoxPounqQ5IEY9lnA595FKN6_K5AXEhUJTQ-X6AzKk8HDE/s1600/1995-US354020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PmSLFNK9dgySXLb8aHkLk-DTom1dF_Fp8otrfqOCcHQL1I4Ahj56S_3C9waxgPrMRtA8cGHH13rVWFIEEG7ewnCNJS5fAHoxPounqQ5IEY9lnA595FKN6_K5AXEhUJTQ-X6AzKk8HDE/s320/1995-US354020.jpg" width="261" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Andrew Lewis' Mistle-Toe Christmas Ornament, ca. 1995.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-onyNWE5eVTQ/TvYOEibh-mI/AAAAAAAABHw/Ov81Rodrspk/s1600/2003-US472182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-onyNWE5eVTQ/TvYOEibh-mI/AAAAAAAABHw/Ov81Rodrspk/s320/2003-US472182.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">David Whitman's "Illuminable Christmas Ornament," ca. 2003.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-c3SE9IVie4jtXH75sbUVlShQqlKhjC7lOSQ8e5botxYCTzea9PAIy-IvfISit-Q6qK_K611DVwT_0vX4vROJgNMghM_brGjBnyaZHwKLdEcdnwIGYVUQLzWX1dyQnExcKmahDKqL53s/s1600/2004-USD489641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-c3SE9IVie4jtXH75sbUVlShQqlKhjC7lOSQ8e5botxYCTzea9PAIy-IvfISit-Q6qK_K611DVwT_0vX4vROJgNMghM_brGjBnyaZHwKLdEcdnwIGYVUQLzWX1dyQnExcKmahDKqL53s/s320/2004-USD489641.jpg" width="204" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Juliane Puntch's "Christmas Ornament," ca. 2004.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div></div></div>N_O_R_T_O_Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622592770239984942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-37182400264271659362011-11-17T20:39:00.008-05:002011-11-17T21:06:54.848-05:00"Men (specifically designers) Who Lack Supervision"Gotta admit, the title resonates with me. A Hollandian collection of "inferior quality photographs linked by facetious comments", this is a curated collection of designs that I received via chain email from a family member. There are some real innovators in here, and some radical designs.<div><br /></div><div>Let me know if you would like me to forward you the entire email.</div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cDjkSuQD_7I/TsW31iMcFhI/AAAAAAAAApw/VXMpIcOTh7w/s320/ATT00010.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676145035710305810" /><div style="text-align: left;">Highlighting the domesticity of the American automobile lifestyle, automotive design borrows from architecture. </div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fmleoleEv7E/TsW43P4z_dI/AAAAAAAAArQ/UNZQ3fajAMA/s1600/ATT00031.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 310px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fmleoleEv7E/TsW43P4z_dI/AAAAAAAAArQ/UNZQ3fajAMA/s320/ATT00031.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676146164667514322" /></a><div style="text-align: left;">A dangerously incomplete utilitarian design, this chair/toilet hybrid really only functions as a toilet and is easily mass produced. Presumably this idea grew hastily from a dire situation.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XMXhJVo9YGSYdBPGn7lGMCEhICqhs6CqYHleg20MlKGS_U4CFQbOCsG-QGPH3bnyZhKyYaJsS01_QeaSAmVVv9Wzj0iITLktfmB9u3xCywuBxg4z_LqpfDbraaP8NE4jD_t_NxlqNaPF/s1600/ATT00030.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XMXhJVo9YGSYdBPGn7lGMCEhICqhs6CqYHleg20MlKGS_U4CFQbOCsG-QGPH3bnyZhKyYaJsS01_QeaSAmVVv9Wzj0iITLktfmB9u3xCywuBxg4z_LqpfDbraaP8NE4jD_t_NxlqNaPF/s320/ATT00030.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676145994240863026" /></a><div style="text-align: left;">A twisted take on Farm to Table, this makes us aware of where our food comes from and the processes that deliver it to us.</div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-340NIhhTfXM/TsW4s6WeIsI/AAAAAAAAAq0/_-TZYG48-Rk/s1600/ATT00025.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 314px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-340NIhhTfXM/TsW4s6WeIsI/AAAAAAAAAq0/_-TZYG48-Rk/s320/ATT00025.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676145987087639234" /></a><div style="text-align: left;">Really just genius, the material and its packaging are appropriated to function in harmonious beauty.</div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-waT5P4TaHhM/TsW4sZhsRrI/AAAAAAAAAqo/kUI_DyLlW5E/s1600/ATT00019.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 188px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-waT5P4TaHhM/TsW4sZhsRrI/AAAAAAAAAqo/kUI_DyLlW5E/s320/ATT00019.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676145978276333234" /></a><div style="text-align: left;">Is it a conversation pit or a barge? In this case, the pool forms a mote, an isolating element not normally associated with couches.</div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7Fkz4huN09A/TsW4sB9ciKI/AAAAAAAAAqY/Up8IVceuDN8/s1600/ATT00017.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 164px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7Fkz4huN09A/TsW4sB9ciKI/AAAAAAAAAqY/Up8IVceuDN8/s320/ATT00017.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676145971950291106" /></a><div style="text-align: left;">Collaborative Design that unites people around a cause.</div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F9QsrRKYYP4/TsW4r7MM4NI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/PMODTtjzUnQ/s1600/ATT00011.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F9QsrRKYYP4/TsW4r7MM4NI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/PMODTtjzUnQ/s320/ATT00011.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676145970133131474" /></a><div style="text-align: left;">Meeting of the minds. I bet some good thinking is done around that fire pit.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VOfCmhIj9179Ew6XeXH8Y9weNqyBI_ubWGEFdmubU7WAnzE4Mjz2a_PfEIQy0YS8kAaB1i8avx-F8TYM2Dkv-Tu_NtXUAaVJlRB-v7ubfrBtjCU7-0vGWn642TBulOgkChcCS27Fwkc0/s1600/ATT00024.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VOfCmhIj9179Ew6XeXH8Y9weNqyBI_ubWGEFdmubU7WAnzE4Mjz2a_PfEIQy0YS8kAaB1i8avx-F8TYM2Dkv-Tu_NtXUAaVJlRB-v7ubfrBtjCU7-0vGWn642TBulOgkChcCS27Fwkc0/s320/ATT00024.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676145046639750242" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VOfCmhIj9179Ew6XeXH8Y9weNqyBI_ubWGEFdmubU7WAnzE4Mjz2a_PfEIQy0YS8kAaB1i8avx-F8TYM2Dkv-Tu_NtXUAaVJlRB-v7ubfrBtjCU7-0vGWn642TBulOgkChcCS27Fwkc0/s1600/ATT00024.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><span class="Apple-style-span">Even interior fixtures offer a chance to show off taste.</span></a><div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1YzepffKU1Q/TsW31bMKcZI/AAAAAAAAApg/tDzYLZPHjHU/s1600/ATT00014.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 262px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kUScFjC9sjQ/TsW43LlH-HI/AAAAAAAAArc/YuDnkjbn6Lw/s320/ATT00032.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676146163511195762" /></a><u><span class="Apple-style-span">Highly expressive, this gate latch serves as a gate latch protecting the gasoline, which can be expensive.</span></u></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 257px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZ_82EPJR5Zx3mWtVCT-8bW7W2r7KqDFOzuG8_U-EOxF5M_1hkymzcrRvnNPeudewhHrdoB2beSc5aVthj6-XsBsL471iP9SzrW67ddwSOD81G8vTy-eWFfKdNH7U7q4X2cfi5qMbPRTf/s320/ATT00020.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676145050301855106" />Hybrid cooler/scooter. This guy is always the life of the party.</div></div></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1YzepffKU1Q/TsW31bMKcZI/AAAAAAAAApg/tDzYLZPHjHU/s320/ATT00014.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676145033830101394" /><div>Not really design, but he has the right idea. </div>dontknockitecturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08140900682596939597noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-45505402902957179862011-11-02T20:27:00.001-04:002011-11-02T21:20:50.355-04:00High Tech, Low QualityClick on the image below...<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7ofQpQN6GHxdeMqzuSusItfjw_ADzPAO_7qhRaPkHSLPd8y-O-sh450Ak81JPSwZOy7nBp5gi6vx7hrknzmYjPXxVjzqFKkAGKxtBvhcXW9nI0jHb62aD3SK6jxymZsP6xREZwF8BpY/s1600/show_studio_edit_LQ.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7ofQpQN6GHxdeMqzuSusItfjw_ADzPAO_7qhRaPkHSLPd8y-O-sh450Ak81JPSwZOy7nBp5gi6vx7hrknzmYjPXxVjzqFKkAGKxtBvhcXW9nI0jHb62aD3SK6jxymZsP6xREZwF8BpY/s320/show_studio_edit_LQ.gif" width="179" /></a></div>N_O_R_T_O_Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622592770239984942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-49318589105773694492011-10-30T19:58:00.001-04:002011-10-30T22:48:24.012-04:00Green Design Troublemakers<div style="text-align: left;">The beginning of the <a href="http://mockitecture.blogspot.com/2011/01/coming-self-parody-of-green-movement.html">self-parody of the green design movement</a> is upon us. "Green" can now function both as resource conserver and disruptive force: parody saturated with symbolically loaded, eco-friendly green washed content. Such an agenda might best be understood as a mannerist reaction to the Green Design Movement.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Central to this discussion is Peter Hutchinson's Mannerism in the Abstract, appearing first in Art and Artists (1966) and later <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=lhMS8Ii73ZkC&lpg=PA187&ots=NdckAUAYCM&dq=mannerism%20in%20the%20abstract%20peter%20hutchinson&pg=PA187#v=onepage&q&f=false" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">reprinted</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">in Minimal Art: A Critical Anthology (1968). The article identifies works of art which seem to subtly attack the emerging Minimal Art movement from within. Hutchinson describes these pieces as largely unnoticed, yet profoundly radical in their departure from the purist values of Minimal Art. Just how something could play by the rules of Minimalism while at the same time challenging it's ideals requires extreme intellectual rigor and restraint.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO60t3VSxQSk5XyRGcJbTF3Cu_Dx77X1eGd1TLFfQpXYgWbTCLHgpsGAoIHGJRkHswjez7piQZW8v-lb4HoNJ1yyeycrTTPMOIpx7KfKplgsXsJKzbURjYNkF2t5HoQ11WZMXF5XfIjTQ/s1600/poons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO60t3VSxQSk5XyRGcJbTF3Cu_Dx77X1eGd1TLFfQpXYgWbTCLHgpsGAoIHGJRkHswjez7piQZW8v-lb4HoNJ1yyeycrTTPMOIpx7KfKplgsXsJKzbURjYNkF2t5HoQ11WZMXF5XfIjTQ/s320/poons.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Untitled, Larry Poons, 1960s. (<a href="http://www.webexhibits.org/colorart/poons.html">image credit</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Larry Poon's ovals, while strongly suggesting an undiscovered, perhaps musical symmetry, refuse to rely on such symettry. Instead they leap accross the surface. The eye jumps from one oval to the next, as the eye jumps from detail to detail in a Mannerist facade...the purist philosophy of absolute "rightness" is already breaking down."</blockquote>Hutchinson unleashes an onslaught of Mannerist reaction to Minimalist Art:<br />
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"Anuszkiewicz destroys the extreme classicality of his compositions simply by causing the eye to jolt back and forth...Hinman's convoluted canvases have a curving diagonal space plunging out at the viewer, who must retreat...Ginnever's green and black sculpture appears voluminous. Seen from the side, it reveals itself as a superstructure, a false-front...Grosvenor's giant structures mock other giantist sculptures in a Mannerist way...Valledor's parallelograms lean forward, in a way mocking geometric stability yet retaining symettry...There is no end to the Mannerist love of reversal, double meaning and spoof." <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9i9T6WWLRoiKIeUg7Ico9TIWy-1c8hWm4lbNwNvgtAjPsx5DeMotxn3M80iNMtugaQ_713027U77KMeUoq2qxwDczGRdEEDFOMx4mdcuAlqeEWrnt9ML8xwnOR5fbP2F6glpsthsZH8/s1600/minimal-art-sm.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9i9T6WWLRoiKIeUg7Ico9TIWy-1c8hWm4lbNwNvgtAjPsx5DeMotxn3M80iNMtugaQ_713027U77KMeUoq2qxwDczGRdEEDFOMx4mdcuAlqeEWrnt9ML8xwnOR5fbP2F6glpsthsZH8/s320/minimal-art-sm.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Kazimir Malevich's refined and pure 'Black Square' (1913) paired with Dan Flavin's "dramatic hysterical" take on Minimal Art, 'the diagonal of May 25' (1963).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The purist philosophy of 1960's Minimal Art seems almost as unanswerable as the absolute truths of today's Green Design movement, which seeks to "eliminate negative environmental impact completely through skillful, sensitive design." How could anyone in their right mind reject or even dare challenge a design movement with such lofty ambitions!? A home improvement project/art installation in the Ohio River Valley suggests a possible future for Mannerist Green Design. A developer installed solar panels on his property, blocking the views of his next door neighbor, a builder (who built the developer's house). <br />
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The developer is quoted saying, "The only way it would function is to cut down all the trees" ... "It was placed there because that's the only spot where it could collect the rays of the sun and function appropriately." <br />
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The builder's wife contends, "I don't know how you do this to somebody. I just don't. We want to retire here. This is our retirement home. And then we have to be neighbors with someone who would do that, for the rest of our life? My question is why?" <br />
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Gonzosaint's colorful comments on <a href="http://www.ongo.com/v/1814792/-1/25DB3C646D87787D/solar-panels-cause-flap">the article</a> importantly hint at the connections between the self-parody of the green design movement and a capitalist desire for greed à la green:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"Are we actually supposed to feel sorry for this "victim"? Only the enquirer could be this tone deaf. Today is the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and our local paper is "reporting" on the trials and tribulations of some rich strumpet having one of her 3 views obstructed by her even richer neighbor's solar panels. Of course there is no mention of the poor people whose neighborhood was eminent domained and subsequently razed to make room for these monuments to American excess. My only regret is that her neighbor's solar panels aren't in the shape of an extended middle finger." </blockquote>The essence of the slippery nature of Mannerist Green Design is called out by Tara Dodrill, of the <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/battle-over-solar-panels-along-ohio-river-190800163.html">Yahoo! Contributor Network</a> : "Is Neyer [the Developer] a rude neighbor or did he simply place the solar panels in the direct path of the sunshine to fuel his home?" <div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiglLhmTf3zwPbO8g5SFqeck3-rVFQSTs31MEaGMfq350nxvdf0qKAYirvqdX5PhCx1pCVjWf9z7vuMmNsDRfiwLeS302YAK7T9EyRrxM2k4mWwyQFtB-1fME5mj0bme_S-eQhFGY77AU0/s1600/green.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiglLhmTf3zwPbO8g5SFqeck3-rVFQSTs31MEaGMfq350nxvdf0qKAYirvqdX5PhCx1pCVjWf9z7vuMmNsDRfiwLeS302YAK7T9EyRrxM2k4mWwyQFtB-1fME5mj0bme_S-eQhFGY77AU0/s320/green.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Green Design as idea (left) and reality (right). Right Image Credit: The Enquirer/Patrick Reddy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"> </div>Hutchinson, in talking about Mannerist Minimal Art, could just as easily have been talking about this solar panel slop fest: "This new sensibility looks at first sight remarkably like the [eco-friendly construction] from which it departs. It appears to the causal viewer as a [solar collecting device]. It is disguised as [required for LEED credit], shrugged off as [malicious]. Behind the charming but "impure" [array] are great disquiet, turmoil, cynicism, and self-doubt." <br />
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Mannerist Green Design might also take on the role of the Spite House, or the Spite Fence: a bending of the rules for selfish gain, yielding the architectural equivalent of the exclamation point. Numerous examples exist, from the Richardson Spite House in New York City of 1882 to Atelier Bow Wow's catalog of Pet Architecture in 2002. Mannerist Green Design might contribute to this tradition of building in spite of your neighbor. It will certainly challenge our evolving understanding of natural resource rights (i.e. the right to solar access, public vs. private rights to water, wind leases & easements, air rights, etc.). <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyq_yEOHfjD0ah-EoNIBde0D63zJhzmJeaKFOYFZvcUKoR2S8Qpie2LTdKwRz69TRegtgmiT1DyVNLt307eiawjWEWkQY4kWOofEFXKIrVilRkg3Eh0QEyTCCqA_bN4B6I_M5sOvCUmmA/s1600/spitehouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyq_yEOHfjD0ah-EoNIBde0D63zJhzmJeaKFOYFZvcUKoR2S8Qpie2LTdKwRz69TRegtgmiT1DyVNLt307eiawjWEWkQY4kWOofEFXKIrVilRkg3Eh0QEyTCCqA_bN4B6I_M5sOvCUmmA/s320/spitehouse.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Jan Pol's (b. 1894) "Monument to Injustice" (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cemeteryrodeo/405320882/">image credit</a>) paired with 1m wide by 10m tall house in Madre de Deus, Brazil (<a href="http://artslibrary.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-narrow-dwelling/">image credit</a>)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hutchinson's conclusion is at once both beautiful and deeply dark. It might be one of my favorite pieces of writing on art. It's brilliant in that it gives us an understanding of just why somebody would want to challenge (or disrupt) the Minimal Art, and subsequently, the Green Design Movement:</div><blockquote>"Contemporary Mannerist work sometimes gets so extreme in its use of acid color, exaggeration of shape, and in its drama that it appears hysterical. Indeed in today's reaction against Romanticism, against Freudian explanation, against pure logic, these artists see themselves as useless members in a society where everybody is useless. Where art was once the only useless thing, now everything has lost meaning. If the artist himself feels he is losing meaning, no wonder he reacts with hysteria. He does super works with the directionless energy of a hysteric - and the result is often hysteria's attendant paralysis. The coldness, the lack of motion, the acidity of color, the lack of detail (expression), are Mannerist symptoms felt before in other centuries in times of mounting disbelief. Bronzino's human contemporary view will break out into horizons broader than hitherto, views not seen entirely from the human scope. It would be a true Mannerist convention that works done despairingly, that desperately parody, should turn out to be truly significant.</blockquote><blockquote>The scientist offers a hopeful world, a world where inevitable progress discovers more and more, a world that gets better and better. This world is sane, stable, and knows where it is going. The Mannerist counters with a world in intellectual hysteria, punctuated by frozen activity, a world where space-time cease to have meaning, a world of soundless gestures, where humans do not live."</blockquote></div>N_O_R_T_O_Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622592770239984942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-59533048364350018772011-10-22T14:02:00.000-04:002011-10-22T14:02:14.814-04:00Tectonic Folly Folk Ballad<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkYdZvSxvShNG1qUtE5N100_T7yGd_ZrllVu5RuXJY1Uin8Elu6QbfIo65GNWWV_kLoRAzfe8LPuSc9h7wxtj5t0NBifFct_sMF0MI_c_TsmmE3s06ohsk6GRYLIEJdbfMCVLq6O4qkmI/s1600/scupper-low+res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkYdZvSxvShNG1qUtE5N100_T7yGd_ZrllVu5RuXJY1Uin8Elu6QbfIo65GNWWV_kLoRAzfe8LPuSc9h7wxtj5t0NBifFct_sMF0MI_c_TsmmE3s06ohsk6GRYLIEJdbfMCVLq6O4qkmI/s320/scupper-low+res.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
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</div>The building cried and wept when it wanted to. The ancients didn't fully understand this, but in their trepidation resided respect. One particularly hot afternoon amidst a heat wave of similar brutally hot days the building again became active, violently ejecting water as if it were a volcano. This came at a time when the ancients had almost forgotten what water looked like, for the summer drought had lasted what seemed like an eternity.<br />
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<i>BOOOOM. WOOOOOOSHHHHH. S H H H H H H H H H h h h h h . . . </i><br />
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Reverberations of the event rippled through the narrow streets and alleys of the town. Passersby stopped and stared. Shocked into a trance. A glistening wall of water captured the rays of the sun, redirecting them in all directions. The building had briefly turned into a supermassive prism! Just for a fleeting second or two, but oh! It was so brilliant you should have been there. Steam instantly filled the streets as this rare bit of water, striking the thirsty asphalt below, vaporized.<br />
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The next several weeks, the ancients would flock to the building, or at least somewhere in the vicinity of the building. They were never quite sure which building it was or when it would happen again. Tension filled the desperate crowd. The optimists eagerly attempted to tell the cynics about the building they remembered, "...it felt like a struggle to reject the rules of our town; to overcome the expected by producing moments of surprise and richness!" The cynics always responded with an undeniable anger in their voice. "We need that water to drink and bathe with! The architecture of this town has turned against us. Hoarding it all. Playing games with us." One day as the sun was beating down on the crowd, a man somewhere in the middle snapped. "THIS IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH, GODDAMMIT! GIVE US OUR F*#@ING WATER." It wasn't clear if he was yelling at the building or the sky, but neither listened. It didn't rain again that summer.N_O_R_T_O_Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622592770239984942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-40915273420963337852011-10-19T21:16:00.007-04:002011-10-19T21:29:58.643-04:00Boston City Hall: A Brutalist Icon<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC1Wtj3177nr0eab0gVVh7deRIub1PptzIabwEVy0geaqXaBnjUajVx2P6m3norSW4QxGuCcKJ6tJ_1cTZ0NotgT_eYCLHCAAE2I0PpvEGPSZ3LctyDoqcIjw5RKVuM08Lv85lcZ59yMUO/s1600/01.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 277px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC1Wtj3177nr0eab0gVVh7deRIub1PptzIabwEVy0geaqXaBnjUajVx2P6m3norSW4QxGuCcKJ6tJ_1cTZ0NotgT_eYCLHCAAE2I0PpvEGPSZ3LctyDoqcIjw5RKVuM08Lv85lcZ59yMUO/s400/01.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665377911033922818" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; "><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; "><span>“</span><span><span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>We distrust and have reacted against an architecture that is absolute, uninvolved and abstract. We have moved towards an architecture that is specific and concrete, involving itself with the social and geographic context, the program, and methods of construction, in order to produce a building that exists strongly and irrevocably, rather than an uncommitted abstract structure that could be any place and, therefore, like modern man— without identity or presence.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></div> <p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; "> <span><span><span> – Architect Gehardt Kallmann</span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><span><span><span><span>In 1962, </span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>Kallmann, McKinnell & Knowles won an international competition to design the Boston City Hall. Their bold design broke from the sleek, stylish glass boxes usually associated with the era. Poured-in-place and pre-cast concrete volumes define public space and private space, while breaks and protrusions in the facade allow the public a glimpse inside the mayor's office. The concrete is of the "brutalist" style, a sort of secondary "modernism" which was beginning to crop up around the US and Europe. The Boston City Hall exemplifies this movement through the use of concrete, rough materials and finishes, and large sculptural volumes.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><span><span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>Built elements materialize the concept of government transparency. This building is probably the closest that A</span></span></span></span></span>merican Brutalism came to the ethos of movement. The use of "beton brut" concrete expresses and makes clear the construction methods to a broad audience. Concrete is relatively inexpensive, and the technology trumpets "progress". The large, open volumes create a physical and spatial transparency. This civic statement that the building makes formally is strong, successful, and in the spirit of Brutalism. The building could be considered "aloof" (like the government). It is unclear where to enter, and from a distance the functions of the building are not apparent. Volumetrically, the building creates marvelous interior spaces, though taxpayers do not appreciate the subsequent high cost of heating or the wasted space in the building. I believe that Boston City Hall is a wonderful example of civic monumentality and modernist architecture, however as a functioning building it fails miserably.</p><img src="http://blog.timesunion.com/realestate/files/2010/01/Boston-City-Hall.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 260px;" border="0" alt="" /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><span><span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>Upon completion, the building was praised by New York Times archi</span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>tecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable as "</span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>a notable achievement ...Old and New Boston are joined through an act of urban design that relates directly to the quality of the city and its life." Huxtable was not the only critic to praise the design. In his survey of Boston architecture, historian Douglass Shand-Tucci called Boston City Hall "one of America's foremost landmarks" and "arguably the great building of twentieth century Boston." These individual sentiments are echoed by architects who, in a 1976 survey, crowned the BCH the sixth greatest building in America. High praise for any building, these accolades are especially provocative in the case of City Hall.</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><span><span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>Boston City Hall was recently named "The World's Ugliest Building" in an online poll. The building has been called "ugly", "a bunker," "a heavily muscled, thick-fingered, knuckle-dragging, semi-monstrous intransigent brute with a slow stupid stare," and a prototypical example of "sweater-snagging Brutalism, concrete not friendly to tender fingertips or to the eye." Legend has it that the criticism of City Hall started when the architects unveiled their design. The crowd let out a mixture of cheers, gasps, and a voice that said, "What the hell is that?" Mayor John Collins reportedly let out an inadvertent gasp of horror. (The design had been chosen by four architects and three businessmen, not the mayor.) The building got the last laugh, however, as Collins was so excited to be the first mayor to work in the new city hall that he moved in before the building was complete and he caught pneumonia. He missed his successor's inaugural speech, bedridden.</span></span></span></span></span></p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3643/3545063297_c2360b4f26.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 357px; height: 500px;" border="0" alt="" /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><span><span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>Walt Lockley, in a lively 2006 critique wonders, "It is interesting to know how this happened, exactly who in 1962 thought this was a good idea, but the much better question is </span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><i><span>what now</span></i></span></span></span><span><span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>?" A Boston Globe article in 2004, asked "Is there a pox on the building?" Mayor Thomas Merino responded, "Cursed? Nah, it's not cursed. C'mon, it's just had a bad beginning. It's a tough building, though, confusing, too much wasted space, expensive to heat, and it's modernistic and not typical of Boston." Merino, however has led a campaign to destroy the building and move government functions to a site in South Boston. He favors the design of a more "aesthetically pleasing" building. A group of activists have formed the "Friends of Boston City Hall" in order to prevent its destruction. Merino embraced the 2008 "Ugliest Building" award as "good for tourism." As of 2011, plans to demolish BCH are on hold. Architect Gehardt Kallman holds out hope. "I get a sense I may live to see City Hall come back into fashion."</span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><span><span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>The critics range from architects to critics to city workers. Critics love the building, as do architects, though the flaws do not go unnoticed. The public and the people who work in the building hate the building and do not care about the historical or cultural value of it. Ada Louise Huxtable praised the building, as did Douglass Shand-Tucci. The AIA loves it. So why do the city workers and public hate it? It has a grim aesthetic which takes effort to enjoy. Most people do not understand the beauty of raw concrete. Most people are not able to piece together the construction process through the treatment of the concrete. And most importantly, the public doesn't understand the history of this type of building or the futurist-progressive innovation of the material. Their interaction with the building is very limited. The people who work inside the building hate it because it is dark, cold, hard to navigate, and generally uncomfortable. Boston City Hall raises an importan question, whose opinion do we trust in matters of preservation?</span></span></span></span></span></p><img src="http://friendsofbostoncityhall.org/wp-content/gallery/memorabilia/boston-city-hall-pin.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><span><span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>The Lockley piece highlights this question. He is knowledgable and has a humorous yet critical tone. (As many critics of BCH have.) The timing and nature of his critique make me wonder what his intentions are. I suspect he is writing this piece as an activist pre-empting the backlash toward Mayor Merino's plan to demolish the building and sell the land to private developers. He says, "So when the City of Boston finally wants to begin public hearings, inevitably some conservationist will file suit to preserve the building...t</span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span style="font-style: normal; "><span>rust your own judgment and the judgment of those who use and work in the building. Those opinions are the ones that count." Whose opinion do we trust in a circumstance like this one? Do we differ to the educated and informed opinion of architects and critics who love the building as a great work of art, a monument to our civilization? Or is the poor functionality of the building, the leaks, drafts, and dim spaces, enough to condemn and destroy? In this case we should leave the building. Many structures with no redeeming qualities have performance issues. BCH has enough significance beyond function that we should leave it be.</span></span></span></span></span></p>dontknockitecturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08140900682596939597noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638387556551184436.post-62117123930744798712011-09-13T16:25:00.002-04:002011-09-13T16:30:50.694-04:00A Larry-Davidian Bike Messenger Incident<a href="http://outtacontext.com/life/images/curb_y0ur_enthusi@sm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 376px;" src="http://outtacontext.com/life/images/curb_y0ur_enthusi@sm.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">This summer I was working at <a href="http://www.arch.columbia.edu/studiox/newyork">Studio-X</a>, perched peacefully on the 16<sup>th</sup> floor at Varick St. and Houston St. The neighborhood is quaint and mainly comprised of offices and small residences. This creates a relatively peaceful environment, even when compared with nearby Soho. I would take advantage of the surroundings by walking around the block a few times per day. These escapes broke up the day and connected me to the city. One particular experience served as a learning experience for me and highlighted the contrast of everyday living in the city with the romantic nature of this neighborhood. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"> I was on one of my walks, getting ready to turn from the residential side street back on to busier and commercial Varick St. As I passed a small and shoddy storefront, a bike messenger burst out of the door. He began to run down the sidewalk with his bike before even saddling up. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and the derelict, clown-looking bike messenger screamed “Get the F#@$ out of my way, NOW!” I shifted my step and he sped down the side walk on his very hi-tech bicycle. I was startled. Obviously, I had the right-of-way on the sidewalk. Bikes are meant to be ridden on the street. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"> I yelled back at him “Get off the sidewalk!” He stopped, turned around, and rode his bike very quickly back towards me. He went through his high-strung bike messenger act, yelling at me and cursing. I told him to calm down, and refused to fight him (A fight would have gone poorly for me). He got his tough-guy licks in, and scurried off to his next destination. I continued back on my walk, into 180 Varick and up the elevator, to the safety of the 16<sup>th</sup> floor.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"> This was a learning experience. It is said that some people learn visually and some learn audibly. I learn the hard way. If anyone had asked me “Should you yell at people on the streets of Manhattan?” I would answer “No.” But apparently I needed proof. Midwestern car-culture allows this sort of behavior, as one is protected by the safety of a car's interiority and mobility. Give someone the finger and just drive away, it will be ok. On the mean streets of New York there is no escape and bike messengers will chase you down. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"> This was part of the New York acclimation process. Sometimes people are having bad days, and the external stressors cause tempers to flare. The dichotomy between the peaceful walk and the bike messenger incident highlights the nature of Manhattan. John Berger describes living here as a simultaneous dream and nightmare being lived by each inhabitant. It is something that takes getting used to. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"> I also learned that bike messengers are crazy and to be avoided. </p>dontknockitecturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08140900682596939597noreply@blogger.com2