Jan '06 - May '07
So studio is moving along. Still not so sure what to make of it. We're doing some diagrams and what not. Analyzing Meyerson so that we can improve it. Does anyone know of a good, simple, easy to digest overview of modernist architecture? I've read Frampton's Modern Architecture, but would like something even simpler. It's embarassing how little I know. Julio asks us questions about modernism in class and we all just stare back at him because we don't know these major buildings he's talking about. We really touched on it very little in our theory courses, so I don't know where to look, what the good sources are etc. You know how it works. The first semester it's at the end, so you get a little Corbu. Then our second semester was...interesting. Leatherbarrow was on leave, so we got some guy who fetishized Fordism. He then found out he wasn't going to get a tenure position and just dropped the ball. Third semester was just jibba-jabba about metaclay or some crap.
I think my photography professor hates us. Well, it's a combination of things. First he just had rotator cuff surgery so he's in pain when he shows us how to use the camera. Second, no one asks or answers questions. It's just me, one other grad student and the rest are undergrads.
That's all.
6 Comments
Get Hans Ibelings' "Supermodernism." It's not without its flaws, but it'll give you the overview of modernism and post-modernism that you so desperately need (no joke). The last third is dedicated to the things that your professor is trying to get across to you, which is the idea that what comes after post-modernism is a return to modernist forms but without the same ethical implications or intentions.
.mm
I hate that "oh, so I'm supposed to already know this?" feeling I seem to get every day in class. Hopefully I'll have it down by the time I'm, like, done with school or something.
I would recommend to try not to know everything about every major modern architect. Experiences prooves me that it's easier to have acrush on one (Corbu, Mies, Aalto, Melnikov...doesn't matter which one) and get deeper in his/her work. Then you can expand your knowledge to others, but you already come from somewhere.
You never get over the feeling that you don't know enough even when you're old and gray. Graduating won't do the trick. There's an infinite amount of stuff to learn, even if you try to confine your learning to design, which of course you can't because designers operate in the world. Sometimes my brain feels completely saturated and I don't know how I'll ever learn everything I want to know.
Learning's a lifetime thing. Always be curious to know more.
I agree with French and Charlotte, lifetime is definately a learning thing. My philosophy is, if something interests you, check it out. If someone name drops, spend a little time putting work to the name. You don't have to like it but it's good if you are aware of it. You may find years down the line that you be doing something, and it will trigger a memory of an image in a book, or a detail, or an elevation. The brain absorbs a hell of a lot of information, and you never know when it will pop up.
D
julio salcedo?
Modern Arch. since 1900 has better pictures than Frampton.
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