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From: Mark Darrall <mdarrall@xxxxxxxxxx>
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Date: Sun, 14 Dec 1997 17:23:33 -0500
At 06:53 PM 12/9/97 PST, Brian wrote:
> also, the plural "architectures" can be helpful in defining the
> many-facets of the architectural idea. In this way, economic,
> social, political, ethnic, cultural, sexual, archaeological,
> interplanetary, electrical, transportational, urban, modern,
> traditional, and security architectures may (seemingly) be said
> to exist as well, maybe making up a larger Architecture.
>
> the problem seems to be: who is allowed to do the defining?
You and me, us and them. Together.
> from this node, it seems very University-dependent. The job
> of academics and cultural critics. It could be related to the
> 'faith' and 'belief' in the singular idea of Architecture,
> administered by the University as church, by a priestly class of
> temporary assistant professor priests, full-time decons and
> tenured bishops, with the occasional saint sighting of a Great
> One on campus or building a cathedral in town. the Pope must be
> Muschamp. or maybe i retract that idea out the guilt and the
> threats of possible scorn by the keepers of the mystery....
Nope. You know first hand how THAT works, Brian. It's not the institution.
The Big Web John is hinting at is bigger than institutions; it's bigger than
all institutions. It's every living relationship among every living being.
And it is you and I.
> it seems that there is difficulty to be had in challenging
> the "official" and "legitimate" ideas of what architecture is.
>
> it seems to be an issue of power moreso than it is of truth.
>
>-most every legitimated and official text then becomes part of
> the 'real story', the his-story (sic) of architecture:
Right! Forget official! Forget power! Forget truth! The only lesson we can
reliably take from history is that institutions should not be allowed to
write it!
I recently took a tour of high school kids to the Soldiers' and Sailors'
Monument and World War Memorial in downtown Indy. As I explained the stories
they told, I had to force myself to place them within the context of their
making, of times when Patriotism, Nationalism, Might is Right, and Ole Glory
were seen as national virtues, while trying not to spin them off in the
other direction. "Let the kids form their own histories in their minds," I
thought.
But all I could really think of were the thousand and thousands of lives
given in the pursuit of...
what?
