| Author | Message | ||
     H0gwash |
I'm not much a fan of piloti either, and you rarely see roof terraces nowadays either. I was just giving a quick architectural history blurb to others who might peruse the thread. There is *plenty* of detail in Frank Gehry's "Fred and Ginger" building in Prauge, pictured above. It was meant on one level to represent the transition of Czechoslovakia from a communist regime to a parliamentary democracy. Like all of Gehry's wiggly buildings, it was spectacularly expensive and it would probably have been cheaper to build this as a 'classical' building, entirely matching the buildings on either side. But the client wanted something international and explicitly different than its surroundings. EDIT: Gehry is also known for his Disney theater in Los Angeles. Also spectacularly expensive, and not a government building. Gehry is largely credited for pioneering the use of CATIA, an aerospace design program, to give building coordinates to fabricators and contractors to build his wiggles. (Message edited by h0gwash on April 18, 2020) | ||
| Sami |
The main issue with open planning is the lack of privacy that results from it. A building without separate walls is like a mall or supermarket, where everyone comes in and goes out with no regard to other people's privacy. But when it comes to a house, walls are needed for privacy and a sense of being at home instead of being at a mall. Having an open floor plan and glass everywhere gets rid of privacy and the cozy/homey feeling of traditional homes. | ||
| H0gwash |
I agree I like to live with walls, but residential architecture is *not* federal government architecture. For that matter, living in a house detailed with Roman or Greek columns and pediments would not be my first choice either. | ||
| H0gwash |
Traditional residential architecture has its place in this world, just as steel and glass skyscrapers have a place in this world. I suppose Greek and Roman architecture has a place somewhere in it, but I'm not convinced that American federal architecture is that place. It seems to be more appropriate to Greece and Rome. | ||
| Sami |
It wouldn't be my first choice either for a house. But neither would a modernist house (5 pieces of new architecture) be my first choice. | ||
| Hootowl |
Federal gov architecture was designed to impress visitors from Europe. DC was created to exist alongside the great cities of Europe. We were basically saying, “look, we’re a real country, take us seriously”. It’s sort of a joke at this point. | ||
| Sami |
Trump has appointed Duncan Stroik to oversee new Federal buildings. Quote from Wikipedia: ''In his academic work, Stroik has advocated beauty and tradition as the standards of architecture.'' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_G._Stroik | ||
| H0gwash |
The whole "machine for living" saying was popular in the 1930s when Corb published his "towards a new architecture" for those who saw rising industrialism as an efficient benefit to society. Nowdays, people want to escape the factory when they go home and the term "Machine for living" has fallen out of favor. Now people often want their houses to look like shacks from the outside, such as Sea Ranch, in Northern California, often called "mineshaft modern" While I'm a fan of mineshaft modern, people design or buy their houses to suit their own taste and you can often see several architectural styles side by side on American streets. | ||
| H0gwash |
True, L'Enfant laid out DC's urban plan. | ||
| H0gwash |
I guess the next federal building may look like a large austere church. I would like to see how far they can go with it. | ||
| Blake |
Some skyscrapers are nice in modern form. The new post office in town is cold and austere. I liked the old one, ~80 years old. It was too small. Local folks turned the old one into a museum and gallery of sorts.
Numbers 22 and 23 from former FBI special agent Cleon Skousen's list of 45 "Communist Goals" in his 1958 book, The Naked Communist. | ||
| Sami |
Also: Modern art was CIA 'weapon' https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-ar t-was-cia-weapon-1578808.html Quote: ''As for the artists themselves, many were ex- communists barely acceptable in the America of the McCarthyite era, and certainly not the sort of people normally likely to receive US government backing.'' | ||
| Sami |
Gerard, austere doesn't come to my mind when I see Stroik's architecture. His architecture emphasises beauty. Trump has appointed Stroik to make Federal buildings beautiful. You can find Stroik's work here: https://www.stroik.com/portfolio (Message edited by Sami on April 18, 2020) | ||
| Sami |
Duncan Stroik is a student of Thomas Gordon Smith, who is a retired architect who emphasised beauty. Quote: http://www.tgsarch.com/ ''Thomas Gordon Smith Architects believe that contemporary buildings should balance strength, function, and beauty. The first criterion involves structural and durability issues; the second requires the smooth, efficient, and accessible design of complex and varied uses. Achieving the criterion of beauty involves formal and abstract principles of design, and clear engagement with the elements of classical architecture.'' | ||
| H0gwash |
The designer won't be the problem so much as the budget will be. This is why modern federal buildings look austere. If you're a designer and your building structure (or your motorycle engine) takes up most of your budget you don't have much left for "icing on the cake," or that nice paint job. All other things equal, more design restrictions generally mean more cost. Maybe the budgets will be increased. | ||
| H0gwash |
Many of the McCarthy era persecutions of artists were pure bullsh*t. | ||
| Sami |
It will pay itself back indirectly via increased tourism to the US. Beautiful architecture attracts tourism. And remember, Trump is saving trillions by not going to war. | ||
| H0gwash |
I don't think there is any money left for war. | ||
| H0gwash |
I don't think a tour of US federal courthouses is on any European's or Chinese bucket list. | ||
| Sami |
You can thank the Federal Reserve for leaving no money for anything. On the other hand, Trump has basically nationalised the Fed. From 2018: Dick Bove: Trump poised to take control of the Federal Reserve https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/20/trump-poised-to-ta ke-control-of-the-federal-reserve.html More recently: The Fed's Cure Risks Being Worse Than the Disease An alphabet soup of new asset-buying programs will essentially nationalize large swaths of the financial markets, and the consequences could be profound. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03 -27/federal-reserve-s-financial-cure-risks-being-w orse-than-disease Quote: ''In other words, the federal government is nationalizing large swaths of the financial markets. The Fed is providing the money to do it. BlackRock will be doing the trades. This scheme essentially merges the Fed and Treasury into one organization. So, meet your new Fed chairman, Donald J. Trump.'' So what this means is that the US no longer has to pay interest rates to the Federal Reserve, hence leaving more money to the US. Trump congratulates Federal Reserve for slashing interest rates: 'It makes me very happy' https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/15/politics/trump- jerome-powell-fed-rate-cut/index.html (Message edited by Sami on April 18, 2020) | ||
| Aesquire |
Frank Lloyd Wright used cast concrete forms for "fake" glue on details that in the Art Deco days ( low labor costs ) would be real carvings. Budget glitz. He also loved flat roofs, and they all leaked. I'm not saying he sucked, or was over rated, but I'm realistic about any fandom. I like the Scandinavian design stuff, but real world experience tells me comfort has to be tested because looks don't tell you how much your butt & back will hate it. Le Corbusier made buildings of surpassing ugliness, and over rated furniture that viciously attacked toes and knees. ( let's take a boring, square, club chair, and wrap it in gleaming chrome square tubing, set to stub toes and ding knees in a dark room! ) But he did have some neat ideas. Swiss, he did make a pleasant open floor chalet design, that is pretty timeless. Not to everyone's taste or needs, but I'd live in one, in the right setting. ( not typical suburban tract! But properly calculated solar angles & a remote hillside? Sure! ) Did a seriously ugly convent. I AM a big fan of Eero Saarinen. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eero_Saarinen Some lovely buildings. Great chairs. A friend of Charles and Ray Eames, another great design team, there is little not to like from his pen. I have an original, used, tulip side table, and 3 of his office chairs. One is my primary computer desk chair. Funny, I found it cheaper to actually buy an old, used office chair on Ebay, than to drive to the closest store to try one. A friend who is a fabric expert found NOS Ray Eames signature "jacks" fabric, ( and another bolt of Ray & Charles Eames "comet" material ) and I had 3 old 4 leg office "bucket seat" chairs recovered with new foam. https://www.dwr.com/workspace-chairs/saarinen-exec utive-armchair-with-casters/ When I took the chairs, fabric, and the printed fabric charts from Knoll ( to list the amounts needed for custom covering ) to a local, good reputation, upholstery shop, ( based on a previous career in automotive interiors ) they quoted me a very reasonable price. I told them they were too low! Explained the design was difficult, and I wanted premium high density foam. OK, they bumped the price $100. Still too low, I insisted. The owner also insisted he knew what he was doing, so we shook on it, & I paid in advance. A month later, I got the call there are done. When I picked them up, the owner saw me, came over, and went off on a rant how much a pain they'd been, & lamented how he'd underbid! I offered...And he refused more money, but now he listens when I tell him stuff. My total was about $300 A chair altogether, which is an outstanding deal on the most comfortable chairs... | ||
| Aesquire |
Mechanical porn! Hypnotic. | ||
| Blake |
How grocery store cash registers used to work, yeah? | ||
| Blake |
FLR did columns cool. The Johnson Wax building. | ||
| Sami |
''I don't think a tour of US federal courthouses is on any European's or Chinese bucket list.'' That much is certain, at least for the foreseeable future. Tourism has come to a halt due to the coronavirus. As they say, Covid-19 knows no borders. Speaking of, border security is needed for a nation's wealth and health. In times of globalism, borders get neglected and we are experiencing the dire consequences of that in terms of costs. | ||
| Blake |
Euros come visit for the national parks. I met a lot camping and hiking the Blue Ridge along the Appalachian Trail. | ||
| Sami |
Speaking of tourism, would Trump's executive order have any effect on tourism to the US? Trump to 'suspend immigration into the United States' by executive order amid coronavirus https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-suspend-imm igration-executive-order-coronavirus | ||
| Court |
Smart idea. . . . Like a world wide 2 week “isolation” period. I live in a city that averages 162,000 tourists arriving PER DAY and the city will love having the gates reopened . . . But, keeping Italians . . . . And other potential carriers . . . At bay for a couple weeks sounds prudent. | ||
| Sami |
Definitely smart. Not surprising, the Left has already called it ''xenophobic'' and ''racist'': Trump says he will impose immigration ban in bid to tackle coronavirus US president is accused of ‘xenophobic scapegoating’ with tweet announcing executive order https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/21/trum p-says-he-will-impose-immigration-ban-in-bid-to-ta ckle-coronavirus | ||
| Sami |
The UN never lets a serious crisis go to waste, using Corona crisis to implement ''hate speech'' laws: Global report: virus has unleashed a ‘tsunami of hate’ across world, says UN chief António Guterres pleads for an end to ‘hate speech’; Beijing says it will cooperate with WHO on Covid-19 origin; global deaths near 270,000 United Nations chief António Guterres has said the coronavirus pandemic has unleashed a “tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scare-mongering”, and appealed for an all-out effort “to end hate speech globally.” https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/08/glob al-report-china-open-to-cooperate-with-who-on-viru s-origin-as-trump-repeats-lab-claim |
