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Architecture is about robbery.

Carl Douglas (agfa8x)
Guardian Interview with Renzo Piano

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Executive Summary:

"I am the son of a builder. This is what it comes down to."

'He can theorise space with the best of them, but really, he asks, must architecture always be so pretentious?'

Only common thread he sees in his work is his 'belief that architecture has a duty "to suggest behaviour"'

Re: Paris riots: "cities have been failed by architects as much as by politicians."

Piazza is not a plaza. Plaza is commercial. Piazza is empty space with no function. Encourages creation of empty, purposeless spaces within cities.

Obsession with lightness as a physical and emotional property.

Not surprised by Paris riots. Not romantic about human nature.
"Cities are a place of tolerance, by definition, where difference must merge."

It's good not to be the first in the class because you get used to learning from other people.

"Architecture is about robbery. About taking, taking, taking, and about giving back."

 
Nov 20, 05 9:34 pm

that article has nothing to do with robbery...

Nov 20, 05 10:27 pm  · 
 · 
driftwood

That article seemed to be more about the dead older brother than architecture or the riots.

I was robbed!

Nov 20, 05 10:52 pm  · 
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Suture

seems that certain people have been robbed of reading comprehension.

I do like his ideas about making plazas be about a place to mingle and live in the moment. However, i wonder if that is possible in the days of concrete barriers and suicide bombers.

Nov 20, 05 11:53 pm  · 
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Carl Douglas (agfa8x)

I was interested in the idea of wasting space, too.
I know he was talking about robbery in a different context, but his conception of the piazza might be a kind of robbery, too: taking something from the city, rather than 'adding value'.

Nov 21, 05 12:05 am  · 
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Carl Douglas (agfa8x)

Seems like a nice guy, as well.

Nov 21, 05 12:07 am  · 
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ryanj

I am most intrigued MOST by this statement...

'He can theorise space with the best of them, but really, he asks, must architecture always be so pretentious?'

I am increasingly finding this to be truthful in terms of how the profession is perceived by society. It bothers me on occasion, but maybe this is meant for the 'Confessions of an Architect' thread

Nov 21, 05 12:36 am  · 
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ryanj

...and the part about 'style' as a form of narcissism. amen.

Nov 21, 05 12:40 am  · 
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