PRUITT-IGOE

A younger man than myself helped me remember this beautiful piece of music, written by Philip Glass for the film called Koyaanisqatsi (1982). The title derives from a scene in which the failed housing project named "Pruitt-Igoe", designed by Minoru Yamasaki (mostly known as the architect of the Twin Towers), is being demolished.

Although frequent attempts have been made by architects to blame the failures of the project on other aspects than the architecture, it has remained a symbol of  how ideology-driven, de-humanizing thinking in our craft can result in horrible and uninhabitable places. The famous architecture historian and theorist Charles Jencks has even claimed that the tearing down of Pruitt-Igoe nailed the moment where Modernism's optimism on behalf of the future and itself ended, and post-modernism started.

The site is now mostly empty, but suggestions have been made for it to be rebuilt in completely different ways, for example in the charming and thought-through master plan developed by architect Samuel Lima. He suggests applying traditional architecture, extracted from examples in the nearby area, and is firmly planted within the New Urbanist approach.

MOVING THE PASSIVE HOUSE

Earlier today, I passed while this installation was being removed from one of the public places in the centre of Bergen. It's a passive house (basically a very energy efficient kind of building) that has been exhibited for some time now, and a few weeks ago, I went with my friend Vegar, who is also an architecture student, to see it. There is a huge debate about passive houses in Norway these days, because, although they spend very little energy, they are also very high-tech, and the techo-optimists and the eco-architects do not agree as to whether the quality of air inside a passive house is good enough.

This one is very small, but was fully equipped, and thus still interesting to see. However, the design was awful, with a door and the inside walls made out of a sort of cardboard (which can be really cool, but in this case was used for) imitating wood, and cheap, ugly moulding. Also, the air inside smelled of fart. Needless to say, we were not quite convinced, and I can't say I'll be missing it.

AVANT-GARDE/COMPLEXITY 1929

He apparently saw this before anyone else:

Plan Voisin, which tearing down a large part of central Paris, replacing it with a highway and huge tower blocks. 1925




"The real effect of M. Le Corbusier's proposals is an over-simplification of the city(...). M. Le Corbusier's solution is to do away with the complexity. This complexity, however, is part of the subject of civic design. The modern great city is like a large orchestra wich often plays an inferior piece of music, and in which the instruments themselves may occasionally even be out of tune. It is the business of a reformer to improve the music and the instruments, but not to cut down the range of the orchestra, nor the number of musical effects that are aimed at by it. M. Le Corbusier has not the patience to attempt this, but substitutes for this orchestra a single tin whistle with about five notes, with which he plays a perfectly rythmical tune. But it is not enough."

- A. Trystan Edwards, The Dead City, in: The Architectural Review, vol. 66, 1929, pp. 135-138

Plan Voisin, model






Why didn't you listen?

A QUESTION FOR FRANK

Question posed by Dhiru Thadani, thanks to Christine Franck for sharing on Facebook.

(Is this Comic Sans? If so, why?) (Oh, why?)

BEFORE THE CARS

Yesterday, the bus gave up on getting us into the city centre and instead dumped us right outside of it. Nairobi is full of traffic and congestion, probably because of all the people driving in their of own cars instead of using public transport, and the fact that the CBD (the tall buildings in the background) has almost no apartments, so people who work there have to spend a lot of time travelling there and back again every day.

Anyway.

When we arrived, we saw that many people were walking towards and on this bridge. There were people selling fruit, and clothes, playing music, chatting, burning things (they seem to have an affinity for burning things in this country) and looking bewildered. We decided to follow, and it turned out that this is a highway that's still being built. In between all the others, there were people in yellow helmets trying to finish it. There were huge cracks every 20th metre or so, which I guess explains why the cars haven't arrived yet. Actually, I'm even sure they should finish it. Research shows that expanding roads only leads to more people using their cars, so that capacity doesn't really increase. Maybe it would be better to keep the life and the people, use it as a new urban space and build some houses and workshops or something on and under it?

GYPSY KINGS

Gypsy Kings from Sebastien Cuvelier on Vimeo.

What happens when kitsch is so kitschy that it's not just kitsch anymore? I mean... It's not pretty, that's quite obvious, but somehow,  it is a bit fascinating.

MICHELE BACHMAN'S HOUSE

HA HA HA HA HA HA

WHAT YOU'LL HATE IN TEN YEARS

(Maybe you already do?)

Military History Museum in Dresden, with an addition by Daniel Libeskind.


"The new façade’s openness and transparency contrasts with the opacity and rigidity of the existing building. The latter represents the severity of the authoritarian past while the former reflects the openness of the democratic society in which it has been reimagined. The interplay between these perspectives forms the character of the new Military History Museum" Ouch. Daniel... please, just... shut up.

MAGICAL CONCRETE CAVE

I found this strange place in Stavanger not too long ago. Lying just up the hill from the train station, it's a sort of underground crossroads and not exactly a classical beauty. However, with the daylight flowing in from a circular hole in the ceiling, dark corners, strange yellow-greenish lamps and the sound of running water from the fountain and the underground brook, it has a very special atmosphere, and is definitely worth checking if you're in the neighbourhood.

NATURBETONG ("NATURAL CONCRETE")

Naturbetong - unequalled combination of industrial look and dust collecting since 1950!

Launched in 1950 by architect Erling Viksjø, but somehow still not very popular amongst most people, the technique of naturbetong has been used in several very important public buildings in Norway, including the government building, which was the main target and heavily damaged by the bomb in Oslo 22nd July 2011. Now we can never tear it down.

Picture from Jernbanetorget subway station, taken earlier tonight.

JERKITECTURE

When a building is being a jerk to its surrounding neighbours, that's jerkitecture. Look at the poor little mansion next to that big, brutal, attention-seeking hotel or whatever it is. The picture was taken in Cascais, Portugal, but jerkitecture can be found almost anywhere in the world, and I expect I will be posting more of it. I haven't been able to find the name of the buildings and their architects, so if you know, please tell me.

TREES IN SUBURBIA

'Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them' - William E. Vaughan

Picture from the project "Stordammen Park" in my hometown, Drammen.

HIPSTER CALVIN

Somehow, I always had the feeling Bill Watterson was talking about contemporary architecture here. Or maybe Calvin's just another hipster.

PS. Wikipedia has a short article on the fallacy called "Appeal to novelty". Have a look.

A MACHINE FOR LIVING IN

"In modern architecture, every day is April Fool's Day" -David Brussat

(What's "modern" anyway? Oh, nevermind.) 

MOSTLY FUNNY IF YOU UNDERSTAND SWEDISH

The woman is yelling "Help, bungalows!", and in the car, someone's thinking "A soulmate!".

Found in a book by the Swedish artist Jan Stenmark.

PIGEON POO AND GLASS CEILING

Taken today at the local cinema "Kinocity" in Drammen, designed by architects Jens Bak and Halvorsen & Reine AS, I believe this picture illustrates why you should check if there are a hundred pigeons anywhere near before you put a flat glass roof on your building.

WITH AND WITHOUT

As mentioned earlier, I think false muntins are extremely tacky. I walk past these doors on my way to work, and one day it struck me how much I prefer the door that has somehow lost its false muntins. Have a look:

With (Yuck!)

Without (Not that bad, actually.)

PREJUDICE

I have a confession to make. I'm very much prejudiced against real estate agents who utilize the typeface Comic Sans in their advertisements.

PAINTED METAL ROOFS

Are you considering designing or building a building with a painted metal roof? Please think again. Why? That's why? Use steel, green or red copper, aluminium, brass or some other metal that ages with a bit of grace.

Yeah, one more, just to remind you. I took these pictures outside my old high school last week.

INTERESTING QUESTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS

1. How come so many people tend to associate the word "ugly" with industrial materials when talking about building and architecture, whereas the word "beautiful" will often be associated with natural materials?

Do they the industrial materials unfamiliar to people, even after centuries of being surrounded by them? 

 

Is it their lack of complexity?

 

Perhaps it has something to do with the way weather and age? Most industrial materials look their best when they're new.

2. How come some many architects and designers refuse to accept this fact and its consequences?

Perhaps they're just completely in love with the not very subtle contrast between natural and industrial materials?

 

Is it because so many architects hope to annoy people when they live, and get famous after their death?

 

Is it because they have an obsession with their work looking "modern"?

Could it be that they consider their own way of experiencing a building to be a lot more important than everyone else's, and hope to convert people to the better by exposing them to what they don't like, again and again, until their sensitivity disappears?

 Are they afraid of being called nostalgic if they use traditional materials, such as local wood and stone, earth, brick, straw and turf?

 

I am curious about your answers, and though my questions are rhetorical, they're also quite honest. Please comment on this blog post if you have any thoughts.

 

Is this better? And if so, how come? (I love it, but I'm not quite sure why.)