i may be wrong to belief it, though i still believe
the WTC/9-11 memorial can be saved from bureaucracy
and commercialized interests. the idea of placing or
juxtaposing the sphere and spire reminded me of the
idea of the cathedral-like ruins of the WTC curtain-
wall, smoldering black, 9-11 icon around the world.
had me thinking recently how it is like the ruins of
the parthenon, the value of these fragments, to keep
them and keep them visible, the architectural reality.
forged of madness, hellfire, courage, and transcendent.
then, like the pylon (freedom tower) and sphere (wtc
facade), this would approximate a blending of both an
old and new reality meeting in some strange present.
what is occurring up until today may be necessary for
building up the site, but to not have the icon of the
moment as the centerpiece leaves the memorial without
a center, very modern maybe but not very real or true.
instead of inventing new symbols (or attempting to),
utilizing the archaeology (and revisioning of what is
corporate landscaping) could add upon the structures
and infrastructures, and -now- to retrofit what is
the developing site, with a new interjection of what
is agreed by all critics to be the vitality and life
missing from major mechanisms of getting it done,
yet needing to get it done better than least worst.
a few (tens or hundred) million (hah, one can dream)
could add another layer of building atop the crypt
being built now, bringing air and green grass, and
elevation and light into the site, so that if there
_must be a skyscraper on the site, at least it will
be in balance with a symbol more powerful and more
central to the purpose and reason of the site itself.
the ruins could sit, as if a sphere to its new pylon,
and emerge with the original elevated walkway as
Libeskind had envisioned (though not to have anymore
to do with designing the 'expanded' _memorial_park.)
it would be able to integrated periphery buildings,
memorial, and commerce, and volumes and elevations
of different peoples and prerogatives, and add to
the necessary infrastructures and probably unique,
if contextualized and prioritized, spaces/places
that could be encountered if it were to resonate
on a visceral emotional level beyond the milieu
of the star architect, and into the archaeological.
of course, i have the plan :) it is a hill with
the ruins, under which is the existing built-out
underground. add the tower and it would probably
be better still, a more real 'new york' memorial,
in a city of skyscrapers.
ruins - wtc memorial park (built atop libeskind/arad)
http://www.mnartists.org/work.do?rid=42192
also, typologies, yes, i totally agree, have never
seen the book though wonder if graphic standards
(the former i've never seen, the latter i never
got a copy of) - could supplement typologies
with coding of generic or even 'ideal' (vitrivius-
like) architectural types (proportions/standards,
codes). this is what interested me most about the
study of architecture, as a type of language of
these types, and how type-architects (ledeoux,
boullée i thought, others) could possibly inform
the present-day when types such as radio-station
(what is a radio station as a universal, yet also
localized building type?) and other places have
as a potential for designed innovations and also
common languages grounded in pragmatic aesthetics
(antennas in radio station, antenna architectures).
these issues/aspects/potentials fascinate me. brian
Steve replies:
Yesterday's post delivered FORMS AND FUNCTIONS OF 20TH CENTURY
ARCHITECTURE--
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/ eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=378&item=4533441573
I remember these books from my student days in the 1970s, but haven't looked
through them since then. I kind of remember thinking these books were not
"inspirational" enough (for me) back then. After seeing them so cheaply
available at eBay, I went to the library to look them over again, and
decided I definitely want these book. I found them to now be very inspiring!
They very much manifest what Brian wrote about above.
It's also interesting to compare these four heavy 1952 volumes ("prepared
under the auspices of the School of Architecture of Columbia University")
with the slim 2003 INDEX ARCHITECTURE: A COLUMBIA BOOK OF ARCHITECTURE.
Where in 1952 there are lengthy and well illustrated topics beginning with
"The Elements of Building: Introduction" through to "The Architect and Urban
Planning" and a whole volume dedicated to "The Principles of Composition"
and vols 3 and 4 fully devoted to addressing the designs of a great variety
of building types (including Catholic Churches, Protestant Churches, and
Synagogues), the 2003 INDEX ARCHITECTURE curtly covers topics like
'abstraction' 'film' 'form' 'multiple' 'real' 'style and symmetry' etc.
Over a year ago I wrote (at archinect) that a lot of INDEX ARCHITECTURE is
pretty much useless and more like sophisticated advertising copy than
anything else. Now, relative to FORMS AND FUNCTIONS..., I see INDEX
ARCHITECTURE as not just a missed opportunity to 'build' further upon
architecture, but a sign of how overly pretentious the study of architecture
can be(come).
What I particularly like about FORMS AND FUNCTIONS... is how lessons from
architecture's past are well integrated with newer architecture design
practice up to the mid 20th century.
[Of course, I get a kick out of the fact that the first building illustrated
in FORM AND FUNCTION... is the Basilica of Constantine in Rome, which began
construction under Maxentius, and was finished (I believe) under the design
supervision of Eutropia (Maxentius' mother) and Helena (Constantine's
mother).
Plus, there is this great little diagrammatic drawing demonstrating a scale
comparison with the Sphere and Pylon of the 1939 New York World's Fair--
http://www.quondam.com/temp/scale01.jpg
--from left to right: the Great Pyramid, Parthenon, Pantheon (Which looks to
me a bit bigger than it actually is), Santa Sophia, Constantinople, St.
Mark's Venice, Chartres, St. Peter's Rome, the Sphere and Pylon.]
FORMS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE 20TH CENTURY really should be a free online
resource now, and the volumes might just begin positively informing
Quondam's overall agenda.
Anyone have any personal experience utilizing FORMS AND FUNCTIONS OF 20TH
CENTURY ARCHITECTURE?
