Something happened somewhere and I am having a hard time writing anything about any of the stuff I see in the media about architecture, public space, occupy, theory of architecture, urbanism... Including most everything I say I am interested in my 'about' section. Just months ago I was writing about these things provoking arguments, at least in my own mind if not with my students and friends. Then social responsibility, unemployment and public space became ubiquitous conversations due to economic downturn and occupy movement. People start to write about them, take pictures and notes, lament, resist, notice.
No complaints. Better late than never, it is for our common good. Kind of empowerment you only get from camaraderie in action. I want demonstrations to get more common, louder and more determined. Even with my own dormant desire to write about it, I am still all for public discontent, confrontation and common struggle.
But architecture is my main interest to write about. Talk, learn and question. Where is architecture these days? Who is doing work, building? Who is saying what? Which things are different about architecture today, than last year or few years ago? What about the schools of architecture and who is in charge of defining architectural education? Now more people are writing it, interest in architectural theory is.., up? Is it? What is next?
There is the musical chairs game people are enjoying at the moment, but it seems like music has changed a while back. All I hear is the generic jingle loop played in master planned eerie theme parks and newly built empty cities in China. They are not good for people, and if they are not good for people, they are not good for architecture. All that flurry of activity there, for empty buildings.
Things are different here on the West Coast. There is hardly any building activity. If there are no new buildings or old ones in my virtual or physical vicinity that are worth writing about, what do I do in the mean time?
So, I am walking, driving, searching these days, I am looking for things that has been neglected, undervalued, unnoticed and has been referred as banal.
Later on...
Speculative renderings of future buildings on empty lots are one of those things that are also representations of architecture in the public eye. Renderings you see on enameled metal plates or directly printed on wood boards. Most of the time they are not the academic degree material, highly artistic conceptual drawings influenced by the well known figures like Lebbeus Woods or any other recognizable practice, but simply what you appropriate for folks on street corners and drive byes to call, buy or lease. Sort of bulletins of what to expect on those empty lots of former gas stations, abandoned buildings and on the footprints of newly demolished structures. Previews of how they will look like when the construction fence comes down..
It is a low point for an architecture critic about to lose his interest in most things built in recent memory and not write about aesthetically pleasing captures of his everyday eye. But somewhat rewarding to talk about the things that were always there without associating them with world class beautiful architecture.
Relatively speaking, thanks to architecture students for inspiring another area of interest for me these days, which is to photograph people in student renderings when I go to reviews in architecture schools. If you are looking for them, they tell a lot. Students are the Geiger counters of what can go wrong or right in the world of architecture. The people in the renderings also bring a point of curiosity for me; “To reconcile architecture with people” which is an ironic twist of the mission Guillaume Apollinaire gave Marcel Duchamp “to reconcile art with people” in the beginning of the last century as Octavio Paz wrote in his book on Duchamp.
Of course this is not to be taken lightly or too literally in the face of current overflow of hydroponic farms, vertical city parks, floating infrastructural cities, parametric neighborhoods, fluid skyscrapers, land art inspired architectural projects, (seems like architects' Gordon Matta-Clark inspired days are finally over.) All of above mostly depicted in dark moody machine generated trendy illustrations in specially dark shadowy ink. These are the concerns of the academia mixed with scientifically speaking do-gooder combination of ecology, materiality, robotic fabrication of things that look like art and the future of tourism with viewing platforms to gaze into next rendering.
Theoretically speaking, for architects, the good times enjoyed by hand me down modernist interpretations of philosophical discussions seems to be evaporating and raining down as Bruno Latour defined “Matters of Concern” and they are working the arrowed circle of “matters of fact” and “matters of concern.” Additionally, many backstage fingers pointing to atmospheric revolution chatter.
In passing and in short, don't get shot down with parametric tech and watch your scientific lingo.
Situation on the ground is like walking down the streets noticing less buildings but more everything else. Trying to forget all forgettable architecture that got the usual deal of pufflicity. In the end, imagine, there will be no other than street experience and white light. There will be no buzzboy buildings if I forget properly. It will be void of somebody's visual packets of growing cactus in the air as the creative place marker, with all those gestural impulse detailing on printed billboard...
Keep going.
These things are on my radar. It registers and folds out as I walk and drive. Enjoying the ride before it gets all too vividly AmericanDubai, saturated with easycash again.
This is chance to slow down for now, as in;
No more speed I'm almost there.
Gotta keep cool, now gotta take care...
A long-time contributor to Archinect as a senior editor and writing about architecture, urbanism, people, politics, arts, and culture. The featured articles, interviews, news posts, activism, and provocations are published here and on other websites and media. A licensed architect in ...
9 Comments
Thanks Orhan for the Bruno Latour piece “Matters of Concern”. Good essay on criticism
(With apologies to Manta, who dislikes the book.) This post reminded me of the city of Reality in The Phantom Tollbooth:
"I don't see any city" said Milo very softly.
"Neither do they," Alec remarked sadly, "but it hardly matters, for they don't miss it at all."
"It must be very difficult to live in a city you can't see," Milo insisted, jumping aside as a line of cars and trucks went by.
"Not at all, once you get used to it," said Alec. "But let me tell you how it happened." And, as they strolled along the bustling and busy avenue, he began.
"Many years ago, on this very spot, there was a beautiful city of fine houses and inviting spaces, and no one who lived here was ever in a hurry. The streets were full of wonderful things to see and the people would often stop to look at them."
"Didn't they have any place to go?" asked Milo.
"To be sure," continued Alec; "but, as you know, the most important reason for going from one pale to another is to see what's in between, and they took great pleasure in doing just that. The one day someone discovered that if you walked as fast as possible and looked at nothing but your shoes you would arrive at your destination much more quickly. Soon everyone was doing it. They all rushed down the avenues and hurried along the boulevards seeing nothing of the wonders and beauties of their city as they went."
Milo remembered the many times he'd done the very same thing; and, as hard as he tried, there were even things on his own street that he couldn't remember.
"No one paid attention to how things looked, and as they moved faster and faster everything grew uglier and dirtier, and as everything grew uglier and dirtier they moved faster and faster, and at last a very strange thing began to happen. Because nobody cared, the city slowly began to disappear. Day by day the buildings grew fainter and fainter, and the streets faded away, until at last it was entirely invisible. There was nothing to see at all."
"What did they do?" the Humbug inquired, suddenly taking an interest in things.
"Nothing at all," continued Alec. "They went right on living here just as they'd always done, in the houses they could no longer see and on the streets which had vanished, because nobody had noticed a thing. And that's the way they have lived to this very day."
"Hasn't anyone told them?" asked Milo.
"It doesn't do any good," Alec replied, "for they can never see what they're in too much of a hurry to look for."
yes thanks for that essay from Latour looks quite interesting.
Thanks for the connection Donna. I am elated to evoke such an amazing fiction and image.
Eric and Nam (and Donna too,) here is another link, "structure of feeling," I think you might be interested also. I brought this up last year on the first Archinect Session with Geoff Manaugh and Bryan Finoki ( Eric you might remember it since you were there.) We discussed it a bit but moved onto some other aspects of looking at cities. I would think it could make a good expansion to recent political agenda of sorts. I thought about rubbing elbow with it in Radar Love, but somewhat instead, perhaps for more ironic feel, decided to 'slingshot' Latour and people appropriating his essay for specific agendas, as architects usually do with theories coming outside of their domain..
Anyway, here is the linkage to former without making too much of a "mise en abyme" on how I wrote the article ;
"The odd term the "structure of feeling” was first used by Raymond Williams in his "A Preface to Film" (with Michael Orrom, 1954), was developed in "The Long Revolution" (1961), and was elaborated on in "Marxism and Literature" (1977.) Williams used this concept to characterize a person's lived experience and the quality of their life at a particular time and place. For Williams the “structure of feeling” is the Culture of a particular historical moment. How our sense of community is impacted by the built environment and how this changes over time. In developing this concept, Williams wished to avoid the idealist notions of a “spirit of the age”, which suggests a common set of perceptions and values shared by an entire generation. Instead he focused on how varied a city dwellers experiences were based on class and circumstance. A particular generation might appear to have a common "structure of feeling", but in fact it extends unevenly through the culture as a whole."
Insurgency. You use the slingshot well! Love the radar ending, very funny piece with intrepid underlays. Do you think Latour's matters of concern is the new algae?
Thanks and yes on the algae question comrade.;.) I think something like "Matters of Concern" is an attractive title these days. However, I wish people pay more attention to Ole Bouman's "Architecture of Consequence" and apply his points.
Here is what we talked on survival in 2010.
I really enjoyed this read. Thank You. I find myself Photographing buildings that we walk by and wondering "what is going on ?"
Orhan,
You hit that one out of the park, my friend! Architecture needs more Iggy Pop. Nice work.
It was nice to ran into and discuss "people in renderings" with Jimenez Lai.
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