Includes his various proposals, built public monuments and stories behind them.
Includes his various proposals, built public monuments and stories behind them.
"HERTY WANTED A SUB DIVISION ON SOME ADJACENT LAND. THE BULLDOZERS HAD ALREADY STARTED LAYING OUT SOME MUNDANE GRIDDED STREET PATTERN WHEN I ARRIVED. I TOLD THEM TO STOP. I DID A WATERMELON-SHAPED SITE PLAN THAT HAD REAR LOT OPEN SPACES THAT BACKED UP TO PUBLIC SPACE IN THE MIDDLE THAT LED AND DRAINED TO A CLUMP OF LARGE TREES. THE BULLDOZERS STOPPED, BUT WERE BACK LAYING OUT MY NEW PLAN BEFORE I LEFT FOR THE UNITED STATES. THE BEAUTY OF POWER AND MINIMUM GOVERNMENT CONTROL. IN THE STATES IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN YEARS TO GET THE PROJECT APPROVED."
part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4
2 Comments
A great read. In fact, that whole blog is fascinating.
AND HE WRITES IN ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME. LOL.
Two things I like about Glen's work: The forms, which are simple and direct in shape; and Small's eco-logic that determines the environmental strategy.
Smalls architectural shapes remind me proto-developed organisms, like worms, tadpoles, embryonic shapes. Un-defined lifeforms and full of potential. Philosophers like Henri Bergson and psychologists like Wm Reich call these ‘shapes vitalist’, meaning life producing and see these shapes as symbolic precursors towards freedom in all its later forms.
Along the lines of Eros and Civilization, philosopher Herbert Marcuse believed that the only revolutionary society is one that is sexually liberated. And that a repressive society represses sex. Small's work is an antidote and the architecture a therapy. The work is revolutionary in spirit and design.
That is part of the attraction, part of the power in the work: a sensuous simplicity that borders on nature mimicry. There is an explicit emphasis on sex and sensuality in Small's works that is liberating. This is not a semantics based architecture but a physical one, whose main design parameters are environmental based.
The environmental eco-logic takes this to another level; beyond the individual and integrates design and mankind with nature in eco-conscious developed forms. Nature is form determiner of the architecture.
The radicalism is in the design that is NOT based on private property, family or the church or state. Nature alone is the design justification. That is Small's ideal.
eric chavkin
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.