Anyone either Going to the Chicago AIA Lecture, read the book, or care to discuss Witold Rybczynski?
[url=http://aiachicago.org/]Thursday, May 7
12:30–1:30 pm at AIA Chicago[/url]
Witold Rybczynski's parents and grandparents were a thriving, cultured family in prewar Warsaw, then a sophisticated European city. With the onset of war, their world fell apart. His mother and father made separate escapes, reuniting against many odds on a ship bound for Scotland from Marseilles.
That people can lose everything, overcome stunning odds to survive, remake themselves in a foreign country, learn a new language and culture, and then do it again is extraordinary. My Two Polish Grandfathers is a testament to the boundaryless world of art, architecture, and music -- which can be transported from one country to another -- and clear affirmation of Rybczynski's own path toward becoming an architect and one of today's most original thinkers.
Beautifully written, thoughtful, and extraordinarily subtle, this riveting work offers a rare glimpse into the development of Rybczynski's educated outsider's eye and is a tribute to a European generation that has helped to define postwar American culture.
I have no doubt that what treekiller says is true. I also agree with Steven's implication that Rybczynski has some very specific design preferences from which he will not be swayed.
What concerns me about his writing, especially for Slate, is that he does not delve very deeply into any issues related to the design world, be they stylistic, economic, structural, technological, or cultural. His writing is all Design Criticism Lite; unfortunately, with Slate as his soapbox, he is reaching a broad audience with his lecturing that design is 1. easy and 2. better when it's traditional. This disturbs me.
That said, I read Home, and it was valuable for me to read, as a 21 year old.
coming from penn, where i heard him speak a few times...and read some of his work...whether or not you agree with him, i appreciate anyone who writes about architecture who is a) a nice guy b) trying to write about it so ANYONE can read it, not just architects and designers and c) actually succeeds in reaching a wide audience! you dont have to agree with him, but he has successfully been able to get more people interested in discussing architecturea and design, even if it is on a more superficial level than we might like.
i remember getting to the last chapter of the otherwise-brilliant book 'city life' and having my heart sink because he wraps up his whole historical survey with an apologia for the shopping mall as the new "public" space.
it was such a disconnect from all that had come before - even with his rationalization of why it wasn't - and felt like such a betrayal.
its amazing that poland exists at all after the atrocities leveled on it by the nazis and the russkis in wwII and forty plus years of post war russki domination.
shopping malls are now called lifestyle centers. at least by the people who develop them. if those people exist anymore that is.
May 9, 09 10:25 am ·
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Witold Rybczynski
Anyone either Going to the Chicago AIA Lecture, read the book, or care to discuss Witold Rybczynski?
[url=http://aiachicago.org/]Thursday, May 7
12:30–1:30 pm at AIA Chicago[/url]
Witold Rybczynski's parents and grandparents were a thriving, cultured family in prewar Warsaw, then a sophisticated European city. With the onset of war, their world fell apart. His mother and father made separate escapes, reuniting against many odds on a ship bound for Scotland from Marseilles.
That people can lose everything, overcome stunning odds to survive, remake themselves in a foreign country, learn a new language and culture, and then do it again is extraordinary. My Two Polish Grandfathers is a testament to the boundaryless world of art, architecture, and music -- which can be transported from one country to another -- and clear affirmation of Rybczynski's own path toward becoming an architect and one of today's most original thinkers.
Beautifully written, thoughtful, and extraordinarily subtle, this riveting work offers a rare glimpse into the development of Rybczynski's educated outsider's eye and is a tribute to a European generation that has helped to define postwar American culture.
He's a nice guy who is always good for an interesting conversation even if you don't agree with his politics.
...or his design predilections.
I have no doubt that what treekiller says is true. I also agree with Steven's implication that Rybczynski has some very specific design preferences from which he will not be swayed.
What concerns me about his writing, especially for Slate, is that he does not delve very deeply into any issues related to the design world, be they stylistic, economic, structural, technological, or cultural. His writing is all Design Criticism Lite; unfortunately, with Slate as his soapbox, he is reaching a broad audience with his lecturing that design is 1. easy and 2. better when it's traditional. This disturbs me.
That said, I read Home, and it was valuable for me to read, as a 21 year old.
coming from penn, where i heard him speak a few times...and read some of his work...whether or not you agree with him, i appreciate anyone who writes about architecture who is a) a nice guy b) trying to write about it so ANYONE can read it, not just architects and designers and c) actually succeeds in reaching a wide audience! you dont have to agree with him, but he has successfully been able to get more people interested in discussing architecturea and design, even if it is on a more superficial level than we might like.
i remember getting to the last chapter of the otherwise-brilliant book 'city life' and having my heart sink because he wraps up his whole historical survey with an apologia for the shopping mall as the new "public" space.
it was such a disconnect from all that had come before - even with his rationalization of why it wasn't - and felt like such a betrayal.
A Clearing in the Distance, the Fred. Law Olmsted bio, was actually a pretty good read.
yes, very good.
its amazing that poland exists at all after the atrocities leveled on it by the nazis and the russkis in wwII and forty plus years of post war russki domination.
shopping malls are now called lifestyle centers. at least by the people who develop them. if those people exist anymore that is.
Block this user
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