At 09:31 PM 5/23/99 PDT, Scott wrote:
>i recommend everyone read greg lynn's new book Animate_Form, at least the
>opening essay which touches on this topic. it is a convincing essay about
>his design strategies and how they differ from all previously cited examples
>given(wright, sullivan, etc) in that it includes the component of
>time(animate) throughout the design process analogous to biomorphogenesis.
>previous examples rely on resemblance of form or metaphor rather than
>performance and instrumentality.
This sounds promising, Scott---it's the next evolutionary step. You're
right---for most of the other "organic" strategies only begin to touch on
time. Sullivan's ornament is a snapshot of a moment of creation---a shadow
of the act of conciousness that formed it, or the potential energy of
growth. Wright deals with time but indirectly by controlling motion through
the structure, and thereby the nature of the experience. Going from the
front door to the main living space of the Robie house, for example, takes
six or seven 90 degree turns, starting at the low-ceilinged entry hall, up a
narrow stair that turns back, and around a screen once you get to the top.
It takes forever, and you wonder if it's ever going to pay off---until you
make that last turn and the living area is laid open, just shooting off to
the north and south, filled with light. Unity Temple is similar. It's a neat
trick, the tortured path and compression/release event, and mighty powerful
(it's also ancient).
But still, it's indirect, and you can attach whatever meaning you want to
it---cycles of life, rites of passage, whatever.
Can you briefly summarize Lynn's argument for us?
Thanks,
Mark
>i recommend everyone read greg lynn's new book Animate_Form, at least the
>opening essay which touches on this topic. it is a convincing essay about
>his design strategies and how they differ from all previously cited examples
>given(wright, sullivan, etc) in that it includes the component of
>time(animate) throughout the design process analogous to biomorphogenesis.
>previous examples rely on resemblance of form or metaphor rather than
>performance and instrumentality.
This sounds promising, Scott---it's the next evolutionary step. You're
right---for most of the other "organic" strategies only begin to touch on
time. Sullivan's ornament is a snapshot of a moment of creation---a shadow
of the act of conciousness that formed it, or the potential energy of
growth. Wright deals with time but indirectly by controlling motion through
the structure, and thereby the nature of the experience. Going from the
front door to the main living space of the Robie house, for example, takes
six or seven 90 degree turns, starting at the low-ceilinged entry hall, up a
narrow stair that turns back, and around a screen once you get to the top.
It takes forever, and you wonder if it's ever going to pay off---until you
make that last turn and the living area is laid open, just shooting off to
the north and south, filled with light. Unity Temple is similar. It's a neat
trick, the tortured path and compression/release event, and mighty powerful
(it's also ancient).
But still, it's indirect, and you can attach whatever meaning you want to
it---cycles of life, rites of passage, whatever.
Can you briefly summarize Lynn's argument for us?
Thanks,
Mark