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Given my interest in urban planning, it is shameful that I have yet to read this book hailed by many interested in the development of cities as an essential tome; as a seminal text of the New Urbanism movement. According to critics and pundits, the observations and predictions within The Death and Life of Great American Cities were prophetic. I'll have to check it out. Anyone out there who has read this?
The Design of Cities is a discussion of city planning principles dating from ancient Athens to modern Brasilia and is also considered an essential text. I must admit that my principal interest in it would be his discussion of Philadelphia. Edmund Bacon was the principal city planner who converted and developed Philadelphia throughout the 50s, 60s and 70s -- with mixed results.
Always wanted to get this DVD but always found some odd excuse not to get it at the moment. I could go on and on about the riddle of how Tarkovsky can manage to communicate philosophical and mystical themes without too much dialogue, but that would be a bit much and contrary to the spirit of his films. Watching Nostalghia provides the same phenomenological qualities as spending a long time watching rain and fog do their thing on a craggy, mossy landscape. Doesn't that sound like fun?
By the way, I decided to provide a public service for all of you who have a difficult time figuring out what gifts to give me -- a link to my Amazon Wish List. This is part of my quest to increase epistemic clarity for all.
Just came back from the Ritz 5 after viewing My Architect: A Son's Journey and chatting a bit with D.C. about it. This is a documentary about architect Louis I. Kahn made by his son, Nathaniel.
It is a wonderful film and not, as you may suspect given the themes of this blog, only because it surveys and discusses Kahn's architectural works and battles. The documentary gracefully allows other themes to bubble to its surface without any apparent dramatic manipulations. These themes include:
- the tension between pragmatic/political pressures and the artistic ambitions of architecture
- a clear-eyed resistance against "great, misunderstood artist" interpretations
- an unforced exposition of how families create myths and narratives to make sense of their lives
In a woeful nutshell, Kahn's works exhibit a reverence for the inherent properties of the materials used in his structures paired with a generous and gracious use of space allowing light and human movement to interact with these materials. You can view several of his works and plans at the Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania. You can also find some images of his best known works here.
The film presents interviews and conversations with several figures ranging from architecture icons such as Philip Johnson and I.M. Pei to former lovers to cab drivers that used to shuttle him around Philadelphia. The profile that emerges from all these discussions is incomplete and often contradictory, yet nevertheless illuminating.
Two aspects of Kahn struck a chord. He rarely settled in one place for long, preferring to travel to and fro and to remain holed up in his office rather than to interact with human beings -- though for a hermit, he did manage to leave a couple of children from extra-marital relationships. His nomadic nature is, in essence, an example of how to be a modern flâneur. It also presents a paradox in his character -- though he preferred not to engage with inter-personal relationships in a sustained fashion, one of the central motivations of his work was to create spaces were people could live with inspiration.
Finally, the film's treatment of Kahn's participation in the design and construction of the Capital Complex in Dacca, Bangladesh is, simply put, an emotional knock-out. The presentation of the building (and, I would assume, the building itself) is stunning. Kahn was often involved in the design of religious or political structures though his motivations for his involvement were focused on providing people with an inspiring space rather than with the endorsement of any particular religion or political structure.
Near the end of the film, Nathaniel discusses the Assembly Building with a Bangladeshi architect he meets inside the building. This architect delivers an emotional, loving account of Kahn and the ultimate impact of the building. It is a powerful account and it helps us understand many of the previous themes explored by the film in one crystalline, beautiful moment. I have to find this architect's name -- I'll post it when I do.
Highly recommended.
| Louis Kahn @ Great Buildings.com | Salk Institute by Louis Kahn |
I'm in Boston attending the User Interface 8 conference in Cambridge, next to MIT. I've had the good fortune to bump into two small gems:
"To Be and To Have" is an unassuming and disarming documentary about a teacher and his young students in a small schoolhouse in the French countryside (Auvergne) during, I believe, a one year period. It earns our emotional connection without any traditional dramatic manipulations and it avoids the trap of relying on precocious children to spark our amazement. It was one of the few unabashed and pure emotional experiences I've had with a film.
Have not read "The Art of Taking a Walk" yet, but I bumped into it while exploring the MIT Coop's class textbook area -- I believe it was part of a film studies course. In the preface, the author promises, among other things, to discuss the cinematic nature of being a flaneur on the city streets and to discuss what she considers to be a phenomenon that is rarely discussed: female flaneurs and the particular ways the cityscape is read/interpreted by them. Add to this a discussion of Weimar Germany and....well.
Perhaps, if you are oh-so-lucky, I'll write more about the book once I read it.
