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San Francisco, 5:54 PM
Sun Nov 8
11 posts in the last 24 hours
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08/27/09
08/27/09
Niiiice!
This is a more appealing use of the words Mobius Strip and Kazkhstan than what I'm used to. Definitely easier on the eyes.
08/27/09
08/27/09
And where are the cozy places to read? It's very bright in there.
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08/27/09
Although having said that, this will never, ever be built.
08/27/09
I live in Berlin, where we have the "brain", one of the main libraries of the "Freie Universität". It also looks pretty sci-fi. At the end of my post you´ll find a google-picture-search.
The library has one problem though. It is not fit for students to study there. First of all it has neither enough lockers, nor seats. Great stuff! The airconditioning is pretty innovative, but you still get headaches studying there. The air feels electrified or charged or something. I dont know exactly what it is. The last major issue is the constant background noise. The library is one huge bubble. Nothing breaks the noise. It´s terrible.
Being a nice building architecturewise, it completly misses the point of being a place to study.
It seems to me, Henderson will be right with his prediction.
[images.google.de]
08/27/09
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08/27/09
And this building is a great example of where we're going. As humans we've progressed so far with engineering and building materials that the class of artists who create buildings is now obsessed with literally pushing the envelope of building. Of marrying function with a form so extravagant and beautiful that it looks like a monument.
What I see in Lamar and that German guy are people who SAY they believe in "function" but what they're actually doing is eschewing technology for conservatism. They aren't advocating "function" but the "aesthetic of function" which is a problem that almost every engineer I've ever met has.
08/27/09
08/28/09
Well, the name´s Philip. And I like where you´re taking this discussion. I like art, as well as I like the humanities (=the sciences of culture, right?). Both are heavely prejudiced against by pragmatist because they don´t see the inner value of those "disciplines"(?).
Still, I think there are limitations on how far they can go. The humanities must obey the scientific spirit of truthfulness and scientific accuracy. The arts on the other hand are not governed by anything but the artist him/herself. I love new and modern architecture. I love what the saudies (and certain asien states) are doing; building vetreous monuments just for the sake of it. But as I said, I think there still lies a problem within.
1) If you call something a library (eg. in order to get financing) it should be a library. If you wanna build a Möbius Strip-shaped (or brain-shaped) library, it still should obey certain core elements of a library. One main feature would be: Students should be able to study there.
If we go down this road, at one point the library (which was given money for by the government or the university) will not be a library anymore but only art. I can only speak for myself, but as a student who goes to the Freie Universität (FU) and has to use the Brain (pun appreciated), this library does indeed hinder my studies: I don´t like being there. So being all artsy and stuff, I still think a library should in fact be a library
2 ) If they make it math library I love it. 1) still applies though.
3) "Art points to things, art enlivens things. It enriches our experience of the world around us."
It does. But does that implie art should be everywhere? Just because it´s art? Just because you think not everybody appreciates the facts you state? Art has its places in the world. At home, in museums, on squares, in streets, also crafted in buildings as Hundertwasser reveals in many of his works ([de.wikipedia.org]). But Hundertswasser is also so great because he accomplishes to combine funcionality and art. Why should we allow artists to build us a reality which is not functional anymore (I exaggerate)?
I want to write more, but my brother´s sitting next to me and we wanna watch two Discworld movies. Reaper Man ftw!
To be continued… ;-)