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Greg Lynn - Book Talk
New bookGreg Lynn gave what he called a “book talk” - he went through the books he's had published so far, from
Animate Form to
Intricacy to the new 'non-monograph monograph'
Greg Lynn Form. I did not end up buying the new book; at $55 it seemed a bit too much of a strain on my alarmingly dwindling student loan pile. It looks very nice though – much more balanced and well rounded than his previous efforts. I'll give you a sense of each book project from Greg Lynn soundbites (and I'm probably misquoting, so consider these illustrative rather than direct quotes):
Animate Form:
“I didn't know it, but everything I'm doing now I was doing then … I haven't had a new idea since.”
It was “too focused on vocational aspects” of architecture.
“I'm deeply embarrassed by Animate Form.”
Intricacy:
It “captures what makes architecture architecture” - that the “expression of component with the whole is unique to architecture” and doesn't appear in other fields.
Greg Lynn Form:
“Pop culture is very Ohio.”
Okay, so he said more about the new book, but what else do you need to know than that Greg Lynn thinks that pop culture comes from Ohio? As a footnote, Lynn ended his talk by going over some of the projects he's working on now, including a restaurant design on Wilshire, and furniture made with childrens' plastic toys joined using the same techniques as used in the
Blob Wall. It was a good, engaging talk, but for me it wasn't so exciting as I had seen almost exactly the same content at his last talk at SCI-Arc. This one was much more book-heavy than the SCI-Arc talk (perhaps slightly appropriate considering the differences between the priorities of UCLA and SCI-Arc's curriculum), but all the same projects were discussed. Notable updates included some progress on the Wilshire project, and actually hearing Lynn say something like “the Blob Wall at SCI-Arc collapsed the day after the opening”. I would have liked to hear more about the work his studio at UCLA is doing – it sounded very exciting when he presented it at the beginning of the year – students are apparently looking at carbon fiber sailboat production techniques and how to apply them to the architecture of the boat factories.
Greg Lynn in the Decafe
3 Comments
i was about to wonder what's going on with greg lynn, so what is he up to? still teaching?
i was his students many years ago!
cheers
The book is only $35 on Amazon.com. I think it will become one of those studio reference manuals like the FOA books and Reiser Umemoto Atlas of Novel Tectonics. Its a good mix between essays and images.
Jeez, you'd think Lynn could at least give his students the amazon price! I totally would have bought it at $35 at the talk, but I guess I'll wait now. I'll be watching studio desks to see if your prediction of it joining the reference pantheon comes true. I was just thinking we're due for a new obligatory reference book; those FOA and Novel Tectonics ones seem to be losing traction (or gasp, hipness) a bit.
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