Going for the obvious choice, the AIA has replaced Kevin Spacey, who had to cancel his appearance, with thespian Julia Louis-Dreyfus as its first day keynote speaker for the 2016 Philadelphia convention on May 19th. Dreyfus will be interviewed by NPR's Terry Gross. As the AIA noted on its official convention website, "In her personal life, Julia is a social activist who is passionate about climate change, water conservation, children’s education, and the power of design. Important topics that we connect with, too." Neri Oxman and Rem Koolhaas are still scheduled for keynote speakers on days two and three, respectively.
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Can we call actresses hot? Or should we pretend not to notice?
jla-x - Avoid talking too much about people's physical appearance in settings where people aren't "dressing up" to impress. In a normal context it may come off as creepy and outdated behavior and its nearly always men commenting on women. Chris Matthews does it from time to time on his show and it seems creepy and somewhat disrespectful. Like I said, its more acceptable when its clear that someone is dressing up for an event or trying out something new, like a new haircut or new shoes or something.
perhaps think about what's important.
in this case, a speaker at the aia convention is an attractive person, but that's not what's important. when you say 'she's hot' it's because what's important to you is what she looks like, not the stuff that really is important. putting looks above competence in a case like this is detrimental to everyone.
on the other hand, if brad pitt is posing at a construction site in a magazine, what he's intending to sell is probably his physical attractiveness, so how he looks is more important in that context.
I still don't understand why they get random celebrities to speak at these things? Has anyone ever been to a lame proctologist or dentist or lawyer convention before? What do they do?
I can't believe anyone would willingly subject themselves to such a speech. Although maybe they have attractive female humans too and that's what everyone is secretly there for.
Me? I'm into Rem. I'd lick his bald head, dump a line of blow on it and snort that shit before we went back to his room and contorted ourselves into a shape much like the CCTV. It's hard to focus on his work when he's sporting that huge bulge.
...contorted ourselves into a shape much like the CCTV
hahaha
Apart from the oafish reaction, there is a serious conversation to be had about how c-list status of "design stars" is the perminant location for even the highest of our profession (Elaine is still upstaging Rem Koolhaas and Neri Oxman). Perhaps that is why today the "stars" like Oxman and Bjarke Ingels are the few that get attention in todays' image obsessed environment. It's not as much that they are flaunting it (maybe a little) that having model looks has become a base requirement for this generation's marketing strategy. The young, tech-model chic look is hot hot hot.
Well Mies didn't pose like this with his chair.
The only issue that I have with the model/architect thing is the way it distorts ones perception of the work. Personally, I'm brave enough to admit that I would be more inclined to like her work knowing that she designed it than if some dude named Rod designed it as a studio project. Just being honest. If that makes me bad then I guess most people are bad because that's how advertising works, and most of us fall for it. This goes beyond the fact that she is pretty...it's because she is famous and pretty and smart, and because others are saying that her brand is good. I may consciously know that is wrong, but advertisement appeals to the subconscious, and I am initially inclined to like it based on the way it is sold as a product of her persona, rather than an object in and of itself. Bjark on the other hand turns me off because he is so blatantly in your face promoting his brand...like a shameless snake oil salesman...Good for architecture though for realizing what advertising agencies have been doing for years...maybe we can sell the public better stuff now...Seriously.
Form follows brand identity
Think I would trust the design media more if we saw both the Vogue types as well as the chubby brown designers represented. But hey, what do you expect...
jla-x, Architecture has always been about identity.
so if bjarke got a pretty girl to be figurehead of his business you would start to like the work he does?
To the general question of why the AIA would bring in TV or whatever discipline non-architect stars to talk to us: For fun. We have two Very Serious Architects coming to talk, why not have someone outside our discipline come talk also? Kevin Bacon of Bacon Brothers is performing at the party; if we're Very Serious Architects should we hire Einsturzende Neubauten instead?
It's good for us to do things that aren't architecture sometimes. Actors are at least entertaining when they speak, and any interview conducted by Terry Gross will be a joy to listen to.
quondam...,
It expresses values, traditions, purpose, hierarchy, beliefs, aspirations, etc.
How is architecture ever going to be taken seriously again if VERY SERIOUS ARCHITECTS don't even get top billing at their own convention: https://convention.aia.org
If the AIA powers that be want to make it all about fun, then why have VSA's at all? Just bring in Carrot Top, Slip n Slides, Minions, and every TED talk architect making desperate pop culture references, etc. But seriously, maybe it should be more like Comicon--just nerd out with a auditorium of nerdy, super serious talks aimed at every little demographic. That I'd go see. Elaine, Rem and Neri I've seen their Speal a million times.
Curt, no...you missed the point. You have a tendency of reducing everything into black and white terms. I'm not going to explain myself again. Read what I already wrote.
Who are you trying to kid? ?
I'm not trying to kid anyone. What do you think identity is?
We all can meet in Cabo instead. Discuss architectural issues while parasailing.
Please, bring in Neubauten, they look like architects. I <3 Blixa.
I figured you'd like that suggestion, beta!
Rem has top billing. He's on Day 3, the busiest day.
Donna, You mentioned rem is on the most active day, and I think that is fantastic. Design wise Neri oxman is my idol. There is a significant cognitive dissonance for me however, between these players being the most important keynote, and Kevin spacey/Dreyfus getting top billing on all the emails the AIA is blasting my way. I'll admit to some failing of hubris here, but when the AIA advertises the 'fun' first, I feel they imply that the advancement of the professional work is secondary. Every year, This perceived value system completely turns me off from attending each AIA expo I could have attended.
Sitting with Ken right now listening to Elaine and Terry! So awesome.
@Donna, did the talk touch on architecture/design at all? Public policy? Or just...
@Olaf, no way that seems so weird/random/unlikely...
Golijov is married to Oxman!
nam when Vado Retro posts, he's like an oracle or a young Yoda, you must pay attention (vado posted on the music thread)
He married architect and designer Neri Oxman in 2011.
I listen to Terry Gross all the time. It's interesting to hear that she's tiny. That chair thing must have been interesting to see, Donna. Perhaps it could be replicated on paper, for further study ? Or were you just outrageously zipped on something at the time . . .
My problem with Terry is that she sometimes exhibits Charlie Rose Syndrome: talking over her guest to get a pre-determined point across. And -- doesn't she seem just a tiny bit obsessed with sex, and especially gay and gender issues ?
And, while we're at the superficial-female-traits thing, isn't JLD looking great for fifty, or whatever she is now ?
(Word on the street is Bacon Brothers phoned it in.)
(The other rumor I heard is there is an opt-out clause in the contract, so Spacey was able to just say "Nah, changed my mind." at the last minute. This is only rumor.)
Donna,
How was the convention? How did Koolhaas, Gross or Louis-Dreyfus go over?
OK, so here is my summation of Neri's talk. Bear in mind we had champagne and mini-golf at my place of employment today, which definitely helped me keep my blood-alcohol level similar to what it was during the four days of the convention.
The part of Neri's talk that was most interesting to me is the notion of homogeneous material that can be either 3-D printed or fabricated by individual entities (biological or manufactured, in other words, either bugs or robots) to create large, non-synthetic structures. She's exploring this idea through both bugs (silkworms and bees) and robots (extruders) as well as, and this was mind-blowing, bacteria that converts light to sugar.
For the idea of homogeneous materials that act differently structurally depending on density and porosity, she gave the example of a palm tree. Palm trees have a single radius all the way up the trunk, but if you take a cross section anywhere along that radius you see a difference of density depending on what the tree needs to resist wind load, adjust to water conditions, etc.
Similarly, a squid's beak is made of chitin, which is the biological material that insect wings and other animal parts are made of. In a squid's beak, the chitin is very tough and hard at the end (for breaking prey) but as it joins the softer, fleshier parts of the squid the same chitin becomes more flexible and pliable. Quoting from an Engineering dot com article: Chitin...is the second most abundant biopolymer on the planet and 100,000,000 tons are produced every year by shrimps, crabs, scorpions and butterflies. In exploring homogeneous material that can adjust per structural loads Neri's research group gathered a lot of chitin, powderized it, and used it to create forms that are homogeneous in material composition but vary in density as needed per structural stresses.
So to me this points to how important bugs are to the future. The idea of bugs as a source of edible protein is already a good one - cricket powder shaken on noodles or kale would add protein without the ridiculous energy conversion we expect from cows. And we would farm produce, gather the pests that are attracted to it, turn them into powder, and extrude a farmhouse or barn to live in while tending the produce. All without having to employ charismatic megafauna. No one really worries about whether a cricket is living a life of pleasure, yes?
She also had some bacterial wearables that would turn sunlight into sugar cubes in your pocket. I wasn't as crazy about the wearables though I understand the implications are exciting.
Also of note: after a couple days of presenters using teleprompters, Neri didn't. She just spoke, extemporaneously (though surely she has given this talk before) with great enthusiasm; it felt very natural. She came across as someone super-excited about their own work and as someone who knows her shit. In my mind, a "person who knows their shit" is the highest praise I can give. it was totally optimistic about a future of bio-sustainable structures with no waste or excavation of natural resources or production of waste material that can't be, basically, composted. Fantastic.
Lauf, give it a rest. Your pseudo-Socratic questioning is about as appreciated as your "work".
Donna,
You might want to check out Branch Technologies. Similar biophilic/ biomimicry inspired design with perhaps more immediately applicable execution.
Also, davvid, IMO Julia Louis-Dreyfus was a really enjoyable opening. She told funny and painful stories about getting a dream job (at SNL) but then discovering it was a huge steaming pile of shit, with the only redeeming aspect being that she found camaraderie with other people who were just as miserable (Larry David) who then later had a huge impact on her career. She talked about feeling passionate about certain expressions in the work (the Master of Your Domain episode of Seinfeld in particular) that were then shot down as "too risky" by the network/client. I felt there were so many parallels with early careers in architecture in her talk.
Also, she and Terry Gross both said "clusterfuck" and a few other choice dirty words.
Rem's talk was IMO pretty boring. Fast Co. did a good summary of it, here. I did pull a few quotes to tweet from it, but IMO Mohsen Mostafavi's questions were dull, and Rem was bored. As 765 (he was sitting next to me (name-drop)) quipped, at one point Rem was checking his Facebook on the slide laptop at the same time Mohsen was flipping through Delirious New York, both on stage.
Right back at ya, Steve. :)
Obvious to you, perhaps. But where I actually have to get off my ass to visit the work I have helped create, I can sit here with my cheetos to check out your MS-Paint abortions.
Your opinion is not important to me, but my anonymity is. Suffice it to say you've seen work I've helped create, may have even been to visit it. It's appreciated. I know this, and your opinion won't change that.
Yeah, but it was cathartic.
It's very obvious. Now run along back to your virtual sandbox of daily single digit visits.
In the voice of Homer Simpson.... "mmmm, cricket powder..."
Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mr. Lauf. Keep on bumpin' those echo chamber threads, too.
Your ego REALLY needs the last word. Let me help you with that.
Like I said, and like you keep on demonstrating, your ego is a fragile little thing. And obviously unearned, too.
Maybe it's time for you manifest your creativity less uselessly . It might even cure your ego problem.
Have a good day. Try not to brag while you're there.
Thank you Donna. Chitin.
jla-x,
"Neri Oxman is gonna be there. She's hot. "
You said this and they chewed you out? That's BULLSHIT. Scratch that, this is WHALE SHIT.
I said basically the same thing and they didn't make one whimper of a complaint.
I wrote:
"Some years ago, I met Neri Oxman at the University of Oregon at I believe was the HOPES conference.
Aside from her general attractiveness as a woman, which is probably why most of the guys were there... lol.....but as for her interests in digital technology and biological centered design was at the least interesting when considering applications of 3d printing.
While I found here concept and approach interesting, I did find it challenging to be adopted and accepted for some time to come for many sectors of architectural design. It will continue to be for some time to come." on:
http://archinect.com/forum/thread/149945956/aia-keynote-speaker-selection/
Ok, maybe I was a tad more careful and elaborated on beyond that or they were too damn distracted on the other thread to notice.
Oh well.... if I stir up a hornets nest again, let me football punt that nest over the field goal and into a lake of acid.
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