Ok, I know that there are many of you out there (cough, a;llias;dJulieakdli, cough) that aren't too keen on blogs that have to do with my area's of interest such as my posts about art and dancing (ie. "I must point out that copying and pasting someone else's work is still not a sufficient blog. We want to hear from you.") Many of you prefer to be informed about me and my life and meanderings. You enjoy blogs like the last one I posted. Ones that seem personal. Well let me tell you, there is only boredom and frustration ahead for you people.
Yesterday I was so bored at work that somewhere in the depths of my mind, a memory surfaced. It was a memory from a year or 2 ago when I went to an exhibition at the MET. An artist/sculptor/architect named Santiago Calatrava. He makes beautiful works of art and sculpture and then sometimes uses them in his architecture. Here's an example. He enjoys studying the human body and how it is built. He looks at how the head or rib cage is suspended off the spine through the complex system of ligaments, tendons and muscles.
Some of these studies lead too sculptures. Some of the sculptures have inspired his architecture, like this apartment complex in Sweden.
Or this apartment complex being built next to the Brooklyn Bridge.
I wish that I was thoughtful enough and knowledgeable enough to be able to delve into the theory and history of architecture. But ultimately I’m a bit of an ignoramus and all I can tell you is what I enjoy. I wish that I could inspire you by expounding ideas about the value, methodology, and psychology of architecture and it’s connection to the human race. But at this point I can barely postulate what seems inspiring to me. Architecture interacts with me and I with it. Humanity has the desire and power to manipulate its surroundings. From the earliest stages, man has sought to build and create.
From Giza to the Freedom tower, what drives us? Is it worth paying a few extra million so that we aren't just building another concrete box. Or is it worth a few extra million to build a concrete box and call it "modern"? Do the man made portions of our environment matter to us? Do they affect us? Do we value functionality, beauty, or perhaps an ideal? What makes something beautiful? Would I be as likely to go to the ICA if it was still in it's original nasty firehouse? Would the Boston skyline be as beautiful with out the Zakim bridge? What if the bridges in Cambridge, over the Charles, looked like the ones over the canals in Idaho? Would I be as excited to stroll down Mem Drive on that sunny Sunday afternoon? What about the NYC skyline? Does the absence of the WTC towers change something? Why do people love the Brooklyn Bridge? Would they love it as much if it was built like the Tri-borough bridge? And what about Paris? What value does the Eiffel tower hold? It serves no functional purpose. It was not built for business or for housing or for any practical purpose. What about the Colosseum? What feelings were evoked in those who saw it for the first time, thousands of years ago? The Parthenon? Do the buildings really matter? Do the aesthetics? Do the locations? They do to me.
I know that I wish Government center weren't so damned ugly. I know that I love visiting the ICA and gazing out over Boston from a glass corridor. I know I love walking the river Charles on a Sunday afternoon and appreciate the bridges and buildings. I know that I get excited when I go to the Getty, Guggenheim, or the JFK, if for no other reason than I love the buildings. I know I love being inside the Frank Lloyd Wright room in the MET. I know that I love Tim's night pictures of the Zakim bridge. I know that in 2 weeks I'm going to be chilling with Big Ben and Westminster Cathedral and I'm stoked.
So what's it worth to us? Is it all worth millions? Is it worth paying 12 or more billion to make a freedom tower that is not only functional, but inspiring and beautiful. Are the arts worth patronizing and supporting? Do we really give enough attention and appreciation? Does society show that it values art in more than it's words?
Well here are a few that inspire me:
Yesterday I was so bored at work that somewhere in the depths of my mind, a memory surfaced. It was a memory from a year or 2 ago when I went to an exhibition at the MET. An artist/sculptor/architect named Santiago Calatrava. He makes beautiful works of art and sculpture and then sometimes uses them in his architecture. Here's an example. He enjoys studying the human body and how it is built. He looks at how the head or rib cage is suspended off the spine through the complex system of ligaments, tendons and muscles.
Some of these studies lead too sculptures. Some of the sculptures have inspired his architecture, like this apartment complex in Sweden.
Or this apartment complex being built next to the Brooklyn Bridge.
I wish that I was thoughtful enough and knowledgeable enough to be able to delve into the theory and history of architecture. But ultimately I’m a bit of an ignoramus and all I can tell you is what I enjoy. I wish that I could inspire you by expounding ideas about the value, methodology, and psychology of architecture and it’s connection to the human race. But at this point I can barely postulate what seems inspiring to me. Architecture interacts with me and I with it. Humanity has the desire and power to manipulate its surroundings. From the earliest stages, man has sought to build and create.
From Giza to the Freedom tower, what drives us? Is it worth paying a few extra million so that we aren't just building another concrete box. Or is it worth a few extra million to build a concrete box and call it "modern"? Do the man made portions of our environment matter to us? Do they affect us? Do we value functionality, beauty, or perhaps an ideal? What makes something beautiful? Would I be as likely to go to the ICA if it was still in it's original nasty firehouse? Would the Boston skyline be as beautiful with out the Zakim bridge? What if the bridges in Cambridge, over the Charles, looked like the ones over the canals in Idaho? Would I be as excited to stroll down Mem Drive on that sunny Sunday afternoon? What about the NYC skyline? Does the absence of the WTC towers change something? Why do people love the Brooklyn Bridge? Would they love it as much if it was built like the Tri-borough bridge? And what about Paris? What value does the Eiffel tower hold? It serves no functional purpose. It was not built for business or for housing or for any practical purpose. What about the Colosseum? What feelings were evoked in those who saw it for the first time, thousands of years ago? The Parthenon? Do the buildings really matter? Do the aesthetics? Do the locations? They do to me.
I know that I wish Government center weren't so damned ugly. I know that I love visiting the ICA and gazing out over Boston from a glass corridor. I know I love walking the river Charles on a Sunday afternoon and appreciate the bridges and buildings. I know that I get excited when I go to the Getty, Guggenheim, or the JFK, if for no other reason than I love the buildings. I know I love being inside the Frank Lloyd Wright room in the MET. I know that I love Tim's night pictures of the Zakim bridge. I know that in 2 weeks I'm going to be chilling with Big Ben and Westminster Cathedral and I'm stoked.
So what's it worth to us? Is it all worth millions? Is it worth paying 12 or more billion to make a freedom tower that is not only functional, but inspiring and beautiful. Are the arts worth patronizing and supporting? Do we really give enough attention and appreciation? Does society show that it values art in more than it's words?
Well here are a few that inspire me:
Pantheon - Rome
Falling Water - Frank Lloyd Wright
Entrance to the Louvre - I.M. Pei
Tenerife Opera House - Calatrava
Alamillo Bridge in Seville - Calatrava
Chicago Spire - Calatrava (should be finished by 2009, click to enlarge)
So maybe I wasn't very personal in this blog. But maybe, just maybe, you'll find that even though I'm not baring my soul, you are actually learning more about me. Lucky you. Read on reader.
4 comments:
On the contrary, I think this blog is very personal. What touches the soul becomes part of the soul. I think the beautiful elements in this world exist to inspire men (mankind of course) to create beauty, becoming more like the master creator/architect. What's money anyway. phew...long comment.
Going to the MFA with Seth = one of my favorite memories.
i am a HUGE calatrava fan. i remember that exhibit - amazing. it was a delight to my soul to see his work dancing in front of me when i checked your blog tonight. thanks for being someone who values aesthetic. it really does matter.
As a photographer I appreciate the beautiful things in this world. I am amazed at how much technology we have to make the most beautiful buildings now and we still make crap like the Government Center. It was so much harder back in the day and if you wander the streets of Boston the Builds are inspiring and beautiful. Then you see the plain and ugly crap we build today with all our wasted technology and potential. Its sad. Thanks for this post and your enthusiasm of the great people of our time who stand out in this plain, bland, world we have created.
Also thanks for the love for my night photography.
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