Wes Rolley on thu 18 jan 07
a bigger problem for architects, e.g. Frank Gehry.
>
> I do think it is a totally stunning building, but virtually every report =
> I have managed to find seems to imply that the building is far more =
> interesting than the contents....
If potters are constantly involved with the age old arguement of
functional vs. non-functional, it is a much bigger problem for
architects. If a building exists because there is a functional need to
cover something (an art collection, a school, a business, a home) then
you can not escape the need for function. Without, the building is
sculpture on a giant scale.
This is true for so many of Frank Gehry's buildings. They are designed
to make a statement about how great an architect Gehry is and often have
littel regard for the environment in which they will be utilized.
The Museum in Bilbao has a local reputation for having ruined the
character of the section of the City where it resides, built as a
monument without regard to the nature of it's surroundings.
It is like his new home for the LA Philharmonic, the Walt Disney Concert
Hall (http://wdch.laphil.com/about/overview.cfm) It looks like a
monument, has pretty good accustics. but required a major change to it's
skin because reflection blinded motorists driving by and raised the
summer temperatures on the street to 140 deg. F
.
Gehry had the opposite problem with a building at Case Western Reserve
University
,
where one critic of the building provides this story:
"The school in Ohio with the other building (by) Gehry is Case Western.
I go there. The story about the snow is correct: the school needed to
put barricades around the building to warn people away in winter. The
building also collects water on the roof, so they had to put a small
pump there, and the plumbing failed regularly the first year because it
had to be completely non-standard. It requires $20k windows (because
they are not flat and have to be made to order), and is surprisingly
small for its size because it doesn't use space efficiently. It is a
horrible decadent building, and the huge sum it cost could have been
better spent on just about anything else. The comment about
architectural fascism was well put -- truly the building exists to
dominate its surroundings."
In the same vein, I wonder if we don't have a form of ceramic fascism,
at least as far as some curators and / or gallery owners is concerned,
chosing to show and promote objects designed to dominate and, like
Gehry's buildings, only exist because technical innovation has made them
possible.
--
Wes Rolley
17211 Quail Court
Morgan Hill, CA 95037
(408)778-3024
"Happiness is to be fully engaged in the activity that you believe in and, if you are very good at it, well that's a bonus." -- Henry Moore
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