Schwarz
View current page
...more recent posts
charlotte perriand
Here, a personal anecdote might be relevant. When I interviewed Perriand in 1997 and mentioned the photograph of her reclining on the chaise lounge with her head turned away from the camera, she responded angrily to a question about Beatriz Colomina’s reading of the image as representing Le Corbusier’s denial of her authorship and creative vision.(2) Perriand told me that she herself had set up the shot, that Pierre Jeanneret took the photo, and that Le Corbusier played no role in its conception and in fact was not there at the time. She insisted that it was her choice to turn her head in order to emphasize the chaise rather than its occupant, and that it was also her choice to use that image in her photomontage of the model apartment that she designed with Le Corbusier and Jeanneret for the 1929 Salon d’Automne apartment building. Nor was she troubled by the fact that the pivoting chair that she designed and displayed on her own was at- tributed jointly to Le Corbusier-Jean- neret-Perriand when Thonet began producing the partnership’s furniture in 1930. Perriand saw this as an opportunity to have the chair manufactured and con- cluded that it would have more impact as part of the atelier’s line of tubular-steel furniture: attaining individual recognition as a designer was less important than hav- ing the chair regarded as part of a collec- tive vision of modern living. She saw herself as an equal participant with consid- erable choice and control in her collabora- tion with Le Corbusier and Jeanneret.
A second issue to consider is the rela- tionship between Modern architecture and the entry of women into the profession. Although Le Corbusier was no feminist hero, his atelier seems to have been a place where several women designers chose to work, including Perriand and Stanislavia Nowicki before World War II and Edith Schreiber, Blanche Limco, and Maria Fenyo immediately afterward. To what extent did the culture of the Modern Movement, and in particular Le Cor- busier’s commitment to new attitudes and social mores, help foster women’s partici- pation in the profession? Did the adven- ture of creating something new, the Modern Movement’s commitment to col- lective values, and its emphasis on collabo- ration (however paradoxical, given Le Corbusier’s self-proclaimed role as artist- genius) prove especially conducive to strong, independent women? Judging from Perriand’s descriptions, not only did she consider herself the equal of the male employees, but she also enjoyed their warmth, camaraderie, and respect. The at- elier provided an environment in which she and her colleagues, male and female, could grow and develop professionally.
Third, her salon exhibitions of the late 1920s call into question the stereotypical characterization of Modernism as instru- mental rationalism and therefore male. What is evident in her 1928 dining room and the 1929 model apartment, as well a in the broader movement for domestic re- form during that decade, was that scientif- ic planning and functionalism were not simply male concerns but were also signif- icant components of women’s vision of do- mestic liberation. Much feminist scholar- ship has been devoted to the demystifica- tion of hierarchical distinctions between attributes such as rationality, functional- ism, and structure (traditionally associated with male truth) and characteristics such as decoration, superfluity, and fantasy (as- sociated with a more feminine subjective sensibility) and to disputing the subordi- nation of the latter. But what becomes clear when one examines the interwar dis- cussions about “scientific” house- hold management is that such a dichotomy is much too simplistic. The domestic reform movement contributed to the feminization of rationality, just as women (and society at large) increasingly perceived rationality as fundamental to their own identities. The idea that housework could be ration- alized and made “scientific” meant that all women—even homemakers—could see themselves, and be seen, as rational and scientific. Though rarely acknowledged in such terms, the functionalism and rational planning of Modern domestic architecture were similarly connected to women’s iden- tities. To repeat: Perriand’s salon exhibits in 1928 and 1929 challenge characteriza- tions of both Modernism and rationality as exclusively male.
mirrored glass switch-plates
What is modern, anyway? Is it classic 20th century (as in Modernism, with a capital “M”) or contemporary (modern with a small “m”)? The answer, of course, is both. And while you’re at it, why not add something really old to the mix? Who wants to live in a period room, even if the period is the 1960s?crazy about the "cratelike" corbusier wood table/stool in the slide show
Big D
Maybe, then, it wasn't so shocking that a cadre of Southern Methodist University professors protested the location of the George W. Bush presidential library on campus. But few who've been around Texas for any length of time can't help but be surprised that Dallas has learned to stop snubbing Fort Worth, its more secure and deeply resented cousin, so that the two cities can join forces in creating one whopping destination for art and architecture fans. As the Morning News architecture critic David Dillon told me, “The city is really coming into its own.” Particularly when considered with Louis Kahn's Kimbell and Tadao Ando's Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth, Dallas is, in a way, he said, “a place you can't not go.”
save the cupcake
aol is my hood and i just downloaded the current aol radio for mac client. now i stream ((xm)). im listening to the "notorious b.i.g." station till it starts to repeat, then ill switch to the "tupac" station till it starts to repeat.
dallas texas punk-rockers stickmen with rayguns
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne today announced the designation of a dozen new National Historic Landmarks in recognition of their importance in interpreting the heritage and history of the United States. The landmarks are located in Massachusetts, Ohio, California, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, South Carolina, Missouri, Illinois and Hawaii.
The sites include buildings that mark the evolving architectural style of Frank Lloyd Wright; a quintessential country estate of the Gilded Age; the home of Roswell Field, the legal counsel for Dred Scott in one of the most significant Supreme Court cases in U.S. history; a residence reflecting Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables; and an American Garden City model of an ideal planned community.
harvard design magazine (this is a scoop on the contents of spring/summer '07 issue - ill repost a heads up when selected articles come online)
mcmansion
well described. too well described.
via justin
Of the seven wonders of the ancient world, only the Great Pyramid of Giza remains. An estimated 2 million stone blocks weighing an average of 2.5 tons went into its construction. When completed, the 481-foot-tall pyramid was the world's tallest structure, a record it held for more than 3,800 years, when England's Lincoln Cathedral surpassed it by a mere 44 feet.
We know who built the Great Pyramid: the pharaoh Khufu, who ruled Egypt about 2547-2524 B.C. And we know who supervised its construction: Khufu's brother, Hemienu. The pharaoh's right-hand man, Hemienu was "overseer of all construction projects of the king" and his tomb is one of the largest in a cemetery adjacent to the pyramid.
What we don't know is exactly how it was built, a question that has been debated for millennia. The earliest recorded theory was put forward by the Greek historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt around 450 B.C., when the pyramid was already 2,000 years old. He mentions "machines" used to raise the blocks and this is usually taken to mean cranes. Three hundred years later, Diodorus of Sicily wrote, "The construction was effected by mounds" (ramps). Today we have the "space alien" theory--those primitive Egyptians never could have built such a fabulous structure by themselves; extraterrestrials must have helped them.
Modern scholars have favored these two original theories, but deep in their hearts, they know that neither one is correct. A radical new one, however, may provide the solution. If correct, it would demonstrate a level of planning by Egyptian architects and engineers far greater than anything ever imagined before.
No matter how the work of Atelier Bow-Wow (the mild-mannered, brilliant husband-and-wife team of Yoshiharu Tsukamoto and Momoyo Kaijima) tends to be interpreted or misinterpreted -- an exploitation of contextual constraints, an elaboration of personal quirks, an exploration of the potential of narrow spaces, and so on -- it is above all based on taking things seriously. Being serious, as Susan Sontag has said with regard to literature, includes being funny, but excludes being cynical. The houses of Atelier Bow-Wow may embody a subtle critique of the city that spawned them, yet for all their compositional humor, they always avoid subverting or mocking the desires of their clients. Quotidian pleasures and individual idiosyncrasies are all treated equally.
Like many of their contemporaries, Atelier Bow-Wow draw inspiration from French philosophical thought, yet not from the theoretical ambiguities and compositional analogies provided by figures such as Jacques Derrida and Gilles Deleuze. Instead, the texts accompanying Atelier Bow-Wow projects often directly and indirectly reference canonical works of sociology such as Michel de Certeau's The Practice of Everyday Life, or Henri Lefebvre's Critique of Everyday Life and The Production of Space. Indeed, the current exhibition of Atelier Bow-Wow's work at Gallery MA is called Practice of Lively Space. This is architecture to be judged as a platform for enabling activity rather than for its sculptural beauty.
this house construction blog is nearing completion :
The "old" house is gone. I'll have some footage up here are some point, or at least some stills of it being torn down. Wow. You think about a house and how it stands up and shelters you, and then you watch a single piece of equipment tear it down and mash it into little bits. Then, the big trucks show up and drive off with the debris, the foundation gets scraped away, and all that's left is the bricks from the chimney in one pile and a line of tree roots looking like commuters waiting for a bus.
If I thought the internal destruction was rough, the ease with which the house was torn down was both fascinating and disturbing - mostly disturbing.
The lot is now wide open, and while I'm sure it'll look great once the house is up, it's scary to see everything scraped away.
barnboard (appearing) floor mat
via vz
rip laurie baker
Born in Birmingham in England in 1917, Mr. Baker came to India as an architect to the World Leprosy Mission in 1945. He spent two decades in the Himalayas and the Western Ghats, working among rural and tribal folk, and finally settled down in Thiruvananthapuram with his wife Dr. Elizabeth Jacob in 1970. He received Indian citizenship from the President in 1989.
His work included housing for the middle and lower classes and construction of educational and health institutions, industrial and religious buildings. He believed that a house should blend with the environment, without disturbing the natural features. Most of his creations feature unplastered brick walls, jalis or trellises in the brickwork and frameless doors and windows that let in natural light and air.
The Quiet Evils Of America's 'Favorite' Buildings
The American Institute of Architects recently threw its authority behind a list of America's "favorite architecture," ranking three centuries of design and aesthetic nationalism from one to one-hundred-and-fifty. The resulting menu, culled by survey, of buildings, bridges, monuments, and other solid things amounts to a joyous celebration and a remarkable commentary on America's embrace of beauty. It also reinforces the desperation that arises when aesthetics and nationalism mix.
I have my opinions on the potency of the Empire State Building (1), the sublimity of the Vietnam Memorial (10), and the disappointment of Disney Hall (99), but no matter. Those we can argue over demitasse. Before we go romping through architecture’s greatest hits, it's probably worth asking, why do we recognize individual architects and individual works? And why do it in a country so awash in mediocrity?
Steven Holl may be known for his innovative use of materials, but his award-winning designs have deliberately avoided a signature style
placemaking (bookmark this)
sneakers in the power-lines t-shirt
via vz
jc forsythia 3/31/07
Starting today, the Museum of the Moving Image presents a weeklong series titled “The Real Edie Sedgwick” that further burnishes her legend and her importance as a muse. The major Warhol-Sedgwick collaborations are all here, including those in which she is the star attraction, like “Poor Little Rich Girl,” and those in which she appears as one guest among many, like “Vinyl.” Also on view are Warhol’s western parody, “Horse”; a fragment from Richard Leacock’s “Lulu,” made for the Alban Berg opera; Andrew Meyer’s “Match Girl” (narrated by Warhol); and Edie’s excised footage from “The Chelsea Girls.” Less happily, there is John Palmer and David Weisman’s “Ciao! Manhattan,” a portrait of her in terrible free fall.
quattroporte