20030228
The blueprint
.: Jonas 3:15 PM
Thank you for that post, Gisela. This phase which has ended in Libeskind's selection does mark but the beginning of a process that will undoubtedly bring many twists and turns. For now, perhaps we can indeed read a hopeful sign in having Libeskind. Hopeful for a possibility of a broader discourse across the profession and beyond about culture, space, and perhaps politics.
.: sawad 11:53 AM
20030227
WORLD TRADE CENTER:
I listened to the press conference this morning.
It was definetively worth it.
Pataki had a lot of big and nice words, talking about freedom, symbolism and the achievements of the American people, their righteous hopes and dreams.
Bloomberg though was really GOOD, devoting a big part of his speech to empasizing again, how the proposals came about. That it was the public which opposed the first designs. That it was the public which set off the competition involving some of the most talented and avant garde architects in the world. That it was the public which voted and raised its voice and made it clear what it wants.
That the public developed a voice at all and in this way instigated a truly democratic process.
Since the uploading of the 6 finalist's design proposals on LMDC's website, it had 70 Million hits.
All this out of the mouth of a truly conservative business man.
Daniel then gave a presentation of the project. I don't like his design, I don't think it's great, I think all of its symbolism is too obvious (a tower, 1776 feet high...), I don't think he is a great designer of public spaces anyway.
In 1991, I was on his team for the Potsdamer Platz competition in Berlin. At that time, I believed in his vision to build an urban environment for the 21st century. I think, at that time, we did propose a design that was truly and radically new. That is 12 years ago now, and the design hasn't changed. It became more ordinary, and for a person of his caliber I find it disappointing to not develop his language at all within a span of 12 years.
All that said, I think we, as architects, are still better off with him as the winner of the whole process. Here are some thoughts:
It is not sure at all whether ANYTHING will be built there in the near future. Governments change, politicians change, Port Authority might or might not give up the land to do its deal with the city - so, we might NEVER see any of Libeskind's design realized ( a friend who talked to Nina a few days ago told me, even she was pessimistic about it).
BUT: Libeskind is an intelletcual. You might not like his emotional talk (and who does), you might not like his decon design, you might not like his ego - but he is an academic, he reads and writes, he is not a pragmatist. Imagine what him being in the spotlight now for some time to come, talking about architecture, its potential, its aims, its way of thinking and handling the world will do to the profession. Imagine Fred Schwartz and Vinoly, the get-it-done-guys, would get this attention. It would be pragmatism, feasibility and business. It would be square footage and escape routes and schedules.
With Libeskind, we have the hope it will be about the culture and the potential of architecture. How architecture is a social endeavour and what responsibilities this brings to the profession. That it is political, creative and challenging. That it is time for all architects to step outside the box and think about space again. That every attempt to do architecture involves a radical questioning of your believes and your expectations.
I think he will talk about that. And that, to me, is a very good choice. For us, the architects.
.: gisela 2:51 PM
After looking at the website for THINK it looks like the S curves were not included, but the public space in this design is vastly superior to the Libeskind design.
.: sawad 4:44 AM
For what it is worth, I thought the THINK design offered more interesting possibilities ... not because of epigonal lattice representing the destroyed towers, but because of all the other elements that were in my understanding part of the proposal, such as the sweeping S curves (by Vinoly?) creating the system of ramps bridging ground level to the levels underground.
.: sawad 4:17 AM
20030226
"Libeskind's design beat the THINK team's 'World Cultural Center' plan" CNN
.: Jonas 7:44 PM
THINK politics mein LIEBES KIND.
"
> From: XXX XXX
> Date: Wed Feb 5, 2003 5:09:51 PM US/Eastern
> To: XXX
> Subject: WTC_Vote
>
> 06.02.03
>
> dear friends,
>
> as you are probably aware, the decision for the possible design at the
> world trade center site in nyc has been narrowed to two: Daniel
> Libeskind and the THINK consortium.
>
> it is our opinion that the Libeskind proposal is the stronger proposal
> and deserves to be the accepted design. a final decision is to be
> made by the end of february.
>
> there are a number of “polls” currently being conducted to try and
> gauge public support for either project. below are two such polls.
>
> we hope that you’ll vote for the Libeskind project, but of course the
> decision is yours.
>
> and as the say, this is not a scientific poll, so VOTE EARLY, VOTE
> OFTEN.
>
>
> http://www.ny1.com/ny/Polls/
> index.html?topicintid=15&subtopicintid=141&polla
> ctivequestionintid=863
>
> http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/04/wtc.finalists/index.html
>
> XXX
"
.: Jonas 5:15 PM
In today's NYTimes article, Muschamp argues that Think's design proposal hands architecture back its power to educate society.
DOES AN OPEN LATTICE PROVIDE THAT?
IS THE GRID STILL THE MOST DEMOCRATIC OF ALL ARCHITECTURAL EXPRESSION?:
"[on Libeskind's scheme] The reduction of usable space in the "bathtub" to a fraction of its original size must inevitably compromise the aesthetic strength for which this plan was chosen. That design's explicit equation of aetic strength for which this plan was chosen. That design's explicit equation of aesthetic with moral and indeed spiritual value is now open to serious question. Whatever one makes of the original design's heavily loaded symbolism ? to my mind the meanings became more disturbing with each viewing ? the design's symbolic heart no longer exists.
The Think's team's design has also been compromised. The plan's potential to develop a platformed urbanism was immensely compelling. If that potential is not developed on this site, the design nonetheless represents an important new way to imagine the public realm. Before long, it will be taken into fully realized urban space.
There has been much discussion in recent months about what those uses should be. A new home for the New York City Opera. A Museum of Freedom. An art museum. Most promising of all, an educational center on the impact of globalization.
I base my strong preference for the Think team's proposal on its capacity to give this process of public education both a symbolic and a practical form. No other design elicited by the official planning process has risen to the cultural occasion that the public itself has defined."
+
NYTimes
I guess, we all had a problem with the extended discussion on glasses, cowboy boots and other paraphernalia, but we didn't know, HOW much Think and Studio Libeskind went out of their way to attract the public eye!
.: gisela 1:37 PM
Ground Zero: On an important day of decision making and remembering Herbert Muschamp (NYtimes) asks: "What cultural value, apart from design, will the architecture serve?" and serves our profession by noting "One of the most heartening developments to come out of the debate over the future of ground zero has been the public's greater awareness of what an architectural program is. When people have spoken of a memorial, of office space, of parks and museums, they have been educating themselves about a pivotal fact that architects and planners reckon with constantly: whoever controls the program controls the architecture. Throughout the debate, the public has been saying that it wants to control the program."
[admin] Michel, i want to thank you for your 'about' question, it reminded us to be more precise about these topics, their relation, and relevance. Sawad immediately did just this, lay out the arch+pol relevance of his earlier posting on Roy, and i am actually just reminding myself to do the same (about my heterarchies (20030223) posting) . there is indeed an architectural significance to it that i find super interesting and i shall try to frame it (let me find the time). I guess i am jus telling you that the about button temporarily links to your question.
+
[admin] speaking of heterarchies and control, i want to come up with a modus for the permissions that is more horizontal than what Blogger suggests with its software (maybe Ronie knows about these things?). i found out that it doesn't allow for all admin. permissions to be turned off. that would be a first step, because the idea that one can edit an other ones postings seems strange. also, i personally would prefer being one of a small group of equal (permission, control) + diverse (profession, city) experts, than the maintenace guy of a crowded and chatty room.
.: Jonas 12:06 PM
20030225
DiSco fever - finally coming to NYC
Not that I know the project, but the news that Diller+Scofidio were chosen to design the urban environ for Lincoln Center is GREAT NEWS.
Newsday
.: gisela 10:26 AM
More Roy ... transcript
.: sawad 12:08 AM
20030224
CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) -- Australia's rights watchdog warned on Monday of an increasing number of computer games sold via the Internet that involved simulated killings of other races and called for action to clamp down on this trend.
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission said new research showed there were about 20 racist computer games advertised or distributed via the Internet, most of which are marketed by American sites.
"The images and computer games are particularly disturbing in their capacity to drain people of their humanity, to render them as sub-human and expendable," commissioner for race discrimination, Bill Jonas, said in a statement.
"This is a new problem and we need to work out better ways of dealing with it."
Jonas said these games were turning racially motivated violence into entertainment and urged people to complain to the commission if they came across any of these games. He encouraged regulatory groups to find ways to block or filter these games.
In one game, players can choose to have their character dressed in Ku Klux Klan robes or as a skinhead during the hunt to kill blacks, Latin Americans and Jews -- all to the tune of a white power music soundtrack. [...]
cnn.com
Is this one of them?
.: sawad 10:45 PM
arundati roy also wrote this amazing book about her childhood.
i can recommend it.
architecture = life
.: gisela 6:41 PM
michel,
i think you should post about flatulence and heartburn.
because noone else will! (post such outreageous stuff). everybody according to their expertise.
or about fluorescent genes, maybe? i heard you are the expert?
.: gisela 6:34 PM
Arundhati Roy was trained as an architect and was at one point married to another one. Her book, Power Politics, arguably deals with architecture ... in relation to forces of global capital and that old friend of architectural lighting, Enron.
In terms of politics, has the issue of what delimits architectural practice been settled once and for all? If so, I'd love to find out the results.
:-)
.: sawad 5:57 PM
Michel, you can post whatever you want. this log is in the middle of defining itself. there is a common interest - or maybe just a presumed one - among the people who contribute. it spans from art and architecture to politics. so part is a shared interst among people who might or might not be working in the field, and part is an understanding that the field of architecture has been rather apolitical for some time and now is a good moment to help that change. Let it evolve some and then we find the right 'about' blurb (above).
.: Jonas 5:31 PM
what is happening here in this logg? is it a logg about the newest on achitecture or is it a logg about the upcoming war? or is there no look on architecture in the shadow of war? or is it just a tool to contribute whatever might feel interesting? I might wanna post a logg about the coincidence of heart burn and flatulence, well I might not... I need an instruction on how to behave in this logg!!!
.: michel 5:17 PM
"Justice is powerless without power."
Today In the NYTimes:
" Chirac, the emperor of Europe? His coronation would certainly represent a triumph over the leader of the US empire, which is why he intends to stick to his course of "enlightened steadfastness" (in the words of Jacques Barrot, the party whip of the governing party, the UMP) against America.
His persistent resistance has thrown the White House off-balance. These days, President Bush looks pale and exhausted, and his voice has lost its characteristic confidence.
Last week, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld reported to his commander-in-chief that the military buildup in the Gulf was complete. But without the approval of the Security Council, according to French diplomats, Bush, in consideration for his most reliable ally Tony Blair, no longer dares to take the big step. In the chambers of the Security Council in New York, Chirac and his "warrior of peace" Villepin have the two proponents of war in a stranglehold. The French president has already announced: "There is no need for a second resolution today. France could do nothing but oppose it.""
New York Times
.: gisela 3:22 PM
Confronting Empire
by Arundhati Roy January 28, 2003
I've been asked to speak about "How to confront Empire?" It's a huge question, and I have no easy answers.
When we speak of confronting "Empire," we need to identify what "Empire" means. Does it mean the U.S. Government (and its European satellites), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, and multinational corporations? Or is it something more than that?
In many countries, Empire has sprouted other subsidiary heads, some dangerous byproducts - nationalism, religious bigotry, fascism and, of course terrorism. All these march arm in arm with the project of corporate globalization.
zmag.org
.: sawad 11:38 AM
20030223
How the Protesters Mobilized: "But the Internet has become more than a mere organizing tool; it has changed protests in a more fundamental way, by allowing mobilization to emerge from free-wheeling amorphous groups, rather than top-down hierarchical ones. [..] The protests had no single identified leader and no central headquarters. Social theorists have a name for these types of decentralized networks: heterarchies. In contrast to hierarchies, with top-down structures, heterarchies are made up of previously isolated groups that can connect to one another and coordinate. Because no central decision-making authority exists, protests can be localized and can appeal to new groups and individuals who don't live in areas where social protest information would typically reach. [..] Military theorists are fond of saying that future warfare will revolve around social and communication networks. Antiwar groups have found that this is true for their work as well." NYtimes
.: Jonas 5:20 PM
20030222
Europe: The Germans who toppled Communism resent the American war frenzy New York Times
.: gisela 12:21 PM
20030221
International Symposium on Electronic Art isea 2004
.: sawad 5:53 PM
It's obviously real: since it is discussed how the design will CHANGE as it meets "reality", we can presume it is for real: NY Post
.: gisela 10:22 AM
20030220
The Europan this year looks great...
.: gisela 12:45 PM
NYC- It's warm today, but there is still ice on the Hudson River
.: gisela 12:43 PM
List of architecture magazines online
.: Jonas 12:39 PM
The Department of Homeland Security just launched www.ready.gov, "a common sense framework designed to launch a process of learning about citizen preparedness."
+
The winner of the "stupid security" competition will be announced shortly.
+
Libeskind it is: Both, Gov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg support the Libeskind proposal for the WTC site. Also, officials at Port Authority and LMDC "have begun to favor the Libeskind plan." Next week we'll find out for sure.
+
Libeskind it might be: Columbia is in search for a new dean of architecture, planning and preservation. Let's get involved, because this one is not yet decided.
.: Jonas 7:43 AM
20030218
WORLDWIDE PROTESTS, STORM OF 2003 + SUNNY DAYS AHEAD:
"CURRENT CONDITIONS New York, NY: LSNO/FOG and 26° F (-3° C)
5-DAY FORECAST: TUESDAY: Snow flurries in the evening. Hi: 32° F/0° C; WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny. Hi: 44° F/6° C; THURSDAY: Mostly sunny. Hi: 45° F/7° C; FRIDAY: Mostly sunny. Hi: 43° F/6° C"
"Configuring Probe Logs: For any system which has a large number of processes running, it is very important to keep track of the various occurrences"
.: Jonas 10:29 AM
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