Sam Olshin is no Frank Geary or Le Corbusier... and what he's shown at his
informal presentations so far are pedestrian rather than "genius"
architecture. But an a review of Architecture of the Absurd in today's Wall
Street
Journal has a lot to say about the mess he'll make with Lussenhop's Folly if
it's
not stopped (or moved to a more suitable location).
Some quotes from the Journal's review (entitled: When Buildings Stopped
Making Sense):
1. A truly absurd building, Mr. Silber says, is one that has absurdity
built into its intention. An example is Mr. Pei's pyramid at the Louvre, in
Paris. Mr. Pei sited his glass pyramid in such a way as to block the classic
facades of the Louvre itself. It was a deliberate act of cultural vandalism,
in
Mr. Silber's view. ... "by what right did [Pei] spoil the view of that
magnificent space?"
2. "When an architect longs to trample over the lives of hundreds of
thousands to enact a plan he believes is more real than his fellow men, who
must live with his plans while he need not, we can see that it is a short step
from 'pure architecture' to cruelly absurd, abusive, and debasing
dictatorship."
3. The great enablers ... have been nonprofit corporations, especially
museums and universities, where "decisions are made by persons who are not
spending their own money, who take no personal financial risk, and who often
lack the knowledge and experience in building necessary to ensure that the
needs of the institution are met."
4. [the author describes] the absurdities of buildings such as Steven
Holl's Simmons Hall dormitories at MIT.... It's an example of what nonprofit
institutions allow themselves to be talked into by architects whose
"Theoryspeak" proves irresistible to boards of culturally insecure trustees.
5. [An architect's] clients... "should not forfeit their dignity as
persons and allow themselves, through vanity, gullibility or timidity, to be
seduced...."
You can read the whole article (and verify that I haven't slipped another
Prince Charles in there) at
_http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119578134568501693.html_
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119578134568501693.html)
Happy Thanksgiving to all,
Al Krigman
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