who wrote this?
RONALD EVITTS ARCHITECT
1201 Broadway, Room 503
New York, NY 10001-5405
212-679-7050 tel
212-679-7058 fax
revitts@xxxxxxxxxxx
www.revitts.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Basic and applied design (Art and Architecture)
[mailto:DESIGN-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Howard Ray Lawrence
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2004 1:33 PM
To: DESIGN-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: The Lives of Louis Kahn in My Architect.
Last December we visited Louis Kahn's Kimbell Art Museum in
Fort Worth, Texas. The museum is an architectural gem, a sublime structure
that defies categorization. The building's style is somewhat formal, but
together with the grounds it creates a serene space that is as much a shrine
to the elements as an exhibition space for art. Kahn's passion and
preoccupation with natural light, seductive curves and the incorporation of
arches punctuate the building with classical underpinnings and make it an
atypical modernist structure.
We recently learned more about Kahn's passion, mystery and
monumentality in classic architecture through the documentary film My
Architect, which was released last November and directed by Kahn's son
Nathaniel. The film received an Oscar nomination, and 250,000 people have
since seen it in theaters. There's a reason for this. It is a superb
documentary that deals with issues at once personal and universal, a study
in the design of Louis Kahn's life as much as his work.
We spoke with the executive producer of the film, Andy Clayman
of Mediaworks, to get some facts and to learn more about the design of the
documentary. Very few documentaries receive such broad critical praise, and
fewer still receive Oscar nominations. The film took five years to make,
which is typical, and in the case of My Architect, the span of time allowed
the movie to transcend the genre of biography. It achieves a special honesty
and directness, both through having Nathaniel Kahn as the protagonist
interviewer and through the intelligent mixture of documentary footage. The
directors did not have to speculate much about the past. The film toggles
between the parallel stories of Louis Kahn the father and Louis Kahn the
architect, with the themes simultaneously developing. It's your choice as to
which is the more compelling element.
Despite the lengthy production time, there's a spirit of
freshness and honesty about the film. It becomes apparent that the producers
did not really know how things would evolve or be concluded until they had
the opportunity to visit Kahn's National Assembly Building in Bangladesh?one
of Kahn's grandest and most poignant works. A progressive exploration of the
architect's life and the extraordinary range of interviews give the film
suspense and a good dose of spontaneity. And you are treated to emotionally
charged encounters like the one between Edmund Bacon and Nathaniel over the
urban plan of 1960s Philadelphia. Bacon (Kevin Bacon's father) and the elder
Kahn had diametrically opposed ideologies about the possibilities and
pragmatics of the urban plan, tensions that seemed to grow over time with
Bacon, as is apparent in this exchange between him and Nathaniel.
EB: Well, I tell you one thing. It's ? it would have been an
incredible tragedy if they had built one single thing that Lou proposed for
downtown Philadelphia. They were all brutal, totally insensitive, totally
impractical. The whole idea of doing circular garages up on Vine Street ?.
NK: Yeah, but the idea of leaving the cars outside of the city
and then letting people walk into the city was a great idea, don't you
think?
EB: No. It absolutely wasn't. It wouldn't have worked for a
damn.
NK: So ultimately, isn't it just two strong men, two strong
egos that don't get along together?
EB: Goddammit, NO. It's absolutely pure ignorance on Lou's
part, and it's the same damn ignorance as the American Institute of
Architects is based on now, that you have no responsibility to preparing the
way for any system on the larger order and you only do the little things
that come along. So you simply have not understood a word I've said.
A nomad, a dreamer and an idealist, as much as a revered
architect, Kahn was something of an anomaly in the formal and rational world
of modernism, just as he was in society at large. Kahn was juggling three
families through much of his life, something that may seem socially
irresponsible to many of us. He was always broke, despite receiving sizable
commissions, which, again, might seem socially irresponsible on some level.
But conceiving of urban plans that promote pedestrian exchange over cars and
creating museums that deal with light as much as artwork and having a
conversation with a brick?these might also be considered socially
irresponsible. There is always a place for idealism in the world, and kudos
to Nathaniel Kahn for making this documentary.
To find out more about My Architect, visit
http://www.myarchitectfilm.com/.
--
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--
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To subscribe, send mailto:design-l-subscribe-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.
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RONALD EVITTS ARCHITECT
1201 Broadway, Room 503
New York, NY 10001-5405
212-679-7050 tel
212-679-7058 fax
revitts@xxxxxxxxxxx
www.revitts.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Basic and applied design (Art and Architecture)
[mailto:DESIGN-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Howard Ray Lawrence
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2004 1:33 PM
To: DESIGN-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: The Lives of Louis Kahn in My Architect.
Last December we visited Louis Kahn's Kimbell Art Museum in
Fort Worth, Texas. The museum is an architectural gem, a sublime structure
that defies categorization. The building's style is somewhat formal, but
together with the grounds it creates a serene space that is as much a shrine
to the elements as an exhibition space for art. Kahn's passion and
preoccupation with natural light, seductive curves and the incorporation of
arches punctuate the building with classical underpinnings and make it an
atypical modernist structure.
We recently learned more about Kahn's passion, mystery and
monumentality in classic architecture through the documentary film My
Architect, which was released last November and directed by Kahn's son
Nathaniel. The film received an Oscar nomination, and 250,000 people have
since seen it in theaters. There's a reason for this. It is a superb
documentary that deals with issues at once personal and universal, a study
in the design of Louis Kahn's life as much as his work.
We spoke with the executive producer of the film, Andy Clayman
of Mediaworks, to get some facts and to learn more about the design of the
documentary. Very few documentaries receive such broad critical praise, and
fewer still receive Oscar nominations. The film took five years to make,
which is typical, and in the case of My Architect, the span of time allowed
the movie to transcend the genre of biography. It achieves a special honesty
and directness, both through having Nathaniel Kahn as the protagonist
interviewer and through the intelligent mixture of documentary footage. The
directors did not have to speculate much about the past. The film toggles
between the parallel stories of Louis Kahn the father and Louis Kahn the
architect, with the themes simultaneously developing. It's your choice as to
which is the more compelling element.
Despite the lengthy production time, there's a spirit of
freshness and honesty about the film. It becomes apparent that the producers
did not really know how things would evolve or be concluded until they had
the opportunity to visit Kahn's National Assembly Building in Bangladesh?one
of Kahn's grandest and most poignant works. A progressive exploration of the
architect's life and the extraordinary range of interviews give the film
suspense and a good dose of spontaneity. And you are treated to emotionally
charged encounters like the one between Edmund Bacon and Nathaniel over the
urban plan of 1960s Philadelphia. Bacon (Kevin Bacon's father) and the elder
Kahn had diametrically opposed ideologies about the possibilities and
pragmatics of the urban plan, tensions that seemed to grow over time with
Bacon, as is apparent in this exchange between him and Nathaniel.
EB: Well, I tell you one thing. It's ? it would have been an
incredible tragedy if they had built one single thing that Lou proposed for
downtown Philadelphia. They were all brutal, totally insensitive, totally
impractical. The whole idea of doing circular garages up on Vine Street ?.
NK: Yeah, but the idea of leaving the cars outside of the city
and then letting people walk into the city was a great idea, don't you
think?
EB: No. It absolutely wasn't. It wouldn't have worked for a
damn.
NK: So ultimately, isn't it just two strong men, two strong
egos that don't get along together?
EB: Goddammit, NO. It's absolutely pure ignorance on Lou's
part, and it's the same damn ignorance as the American Institute of
Architects is based on now, that you have no responsibility to preparing the
way for any system on the larger order and you only do the little things
that come along. So you simply have not understood a word I've said.
A nomad, a dreamer and an idealist, as much as a revered
architect, Kahn was something of an anomaly in the formal and rational world
of modernism, just as he was in society at large. Kahn was juggling three
families through much of his life, something that may seem socially
irresponsible to many of us. He was always broke, despite receiving sizable
commissions, which, again, might seem socially irresponsible on some level.
But conceiving of urban plans that promote pedestrian exchange over cars and
creating museums that deal with light as much as artwork and having a
conversation with a brick?these might also be considered socially
irresponsible. There is always a place for idealism in the world, and kudos
to Nathaniel Kahn for making this documentary.
To find out more about My Architect, visit
http://www.myarchitectfilm.com/.
--
The Design-L list for art and architecture, since 1992...
To subscribe, send mailto:design-l-subscribe-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To signoff, send mailto:design-l-unsubscribe-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Visit archives: http://lists.psu.edu/archives/design-l.html
--
The Design-L list for art and architecture, since 1992...
To subscribe, send mailto:design-l-subscribe-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To signoff, send mailto:design-l-unsubscribe-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Visit archives: http://lists.psu.edu/archives/design-l.html