Vitruvian Pervert

James Stirling revels in his mastery:

"A man living on his famous (now long since demolished) Runcorn housing estate with its big circular windows had been arrested for exposing himself to a busload of nurses which passed his house every morning. One aesthetically-aware nurse noted that, thus framed, he looked like Leonardo's Vitruvian Man. But what tickled Jim was the man's defence in court. Given such windows, what else could he do, he asked, claiming that his misdeed was the architect's fault. Jim insisted we publish this."

[From this article...]

Lyrics inherited from awareness somewhere in the sky

Some music. Blackalicious has the best delivery style in hip hop.

Mockitecture on Flickr

An oversized parking meter...

I found this gem by dialing up the internets. (Which we all know is a series of tubes.) My congratulations to OmarOmar, you have a true eye for mockitecture.

Norton's Christmas Wish List

Revisiting PostModernism

The Architectural League of New York is releasing a series of Podcasts, titled "Revisiting PostModernism" It is an in depth look at some of the most serious practitioners of Postmodernism, including Charles Jencks and James Stirling. This is an up close look back at what the movement was really about. [more...]

Poetry Jam of the Week

Here is some poetry:

Butterscotch, Philip Semore Hoffman, Yoga toga, Chinese Ear Wax, Shards of glass, the Eiffel Tower, drunk pirate, Moon walk on Mars. Sarah Palin Hockey puck lobotomy, fat man on a camel, Where's Waldo Where's Waldo, MOON PIE MOON PIE

Subversion: Immersion, Cranbrook Version

This is an example of some great mockitecture. It is a project by a student for the Campus of Cranbrook Academy. There are many layers to the project, the most obvious being a floating brick in the sky. Bricks are very heavy, so to loft a brick up on the air and have it float there is subversive to start with. Usually, heavier elements are thought to be placed in the ground. Much like the work of Sverre Fehn, the giant brick in the sky breaks with expected convention, a kind of second glance architecture. It is about architecture, but it also utilizes everyday shapes (bricks) to make ironic gestures which can be interpreted on some level by non-architects.

The next ironic gesture is that of a truss in the ground. Many would say that is absurdism. (not as a compliment) The truss is just the image. The sloped columns that make up the image of the truss in the ground are completely structurally rational. The fact that a huge truss is sitting in the ground would be quite a sight.

When you strip away the heavy-feeling materials from the brick, we realize that the structure makes sense. The treatments and detailing are meant to subvert this inherit structural logic.

Truss in ground, brick in sky. Makes sense to me.

What is...a SHADOW CATCHER?

Ever since mis-hearing someone who was speaking about "Shadow Casters" (i.e. spot lights), I have been intrigued at the thought of a Shadow Catcher.  Perhaps it is just the mystery of not being able to define what a shadow catcher is/looks like, that has peaked my interest.

Maybe shadow catchers are walls haphazardly placed in the landscape?  Or, maybe they are massive holes...crevasses in the landscape?  Glass fronted buildings facing the sun seem to consume shadows originating from surrounding buildings and sidewalk activity...maybe they are shadow catchers?  Who knows?  Perhaps the eWorld will help me out with this one.  Any ideas?

Bright Lights, Big City

Following up on the last post, here are some tunes for your enjoyment while you browse the mockitecture.

City as Sex

Freud would say that sex is at the root of all subconscious.  He would also say that subconscious is at the root of all human activity. If the city is the construction of such human activity, then sex is at the root of all cities. Everything from storefronts full of scantily clad models to buses taking people to eventually fulfill their conquest for sex are the pulse of the city. Is this a by-product of consumer society, where advertising has taken over as organizer? Probably...but sex sells. Even our cars are based on bodies and sex. The car is adventurous, the city is romantic.

Most of our buildings are inexpressive of their interiors. This lack of transparency not-so-accidental facadery represent some of humankind's most sexual urges for privacy. What goes on behind the curtains in the windows of those buildings? That is not for us to know. The construct of the city as millions of private areas is City as Sex.FAT's Semi Dysfunctional House explores these themes about what goes on in the private sections (of a house in this case.) The public areas are designed with the ultimate goal in mind: privacy.

In his book Building Sex, Aaron Betsky outlines the inplications gender plays in creating space. Interiors and side spaces such as cafes, homes, and salons are feminine, warm sensuous spaces, while Exteriors, Streets, Public Spaces, and Monuments are cold, masculine constructions. How can we develop the ambivalent both-and of gender roles in constructing the city scape? In other words, can we have the desirable qualities of the interiors of our cafes, homes, and salons in our streets? Can irony and humor help fight the stark and violent gray of a city? What are the limits of the combative ironic warmth in the cold city? What is the cure for this cold, hostile environment that our cities have become? How does the boundary between interior and exterior, warm and cold, feminine and masculine break down?