Notes on the State of American Architecture #1
by Mason White, Aug 21, 04 | 11:33 am
Part 1: Are we really the "Plan B" country?
Architecture in America today is a confused disaster. In a recent New
York Times article, Julie Iovine chronicles several European architects
frustration with building in America. One of them, Herzog & de Mueron,
remarked that in building their de Young Museum in San Francisco they
had to resort to a "plan B" simply because they were building on
American soil. Are we really the "Plan B" country now? Is the link
between architect and builder so frayed that we cannot execute
higher-caliber projects?
cont'd
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Part 2: Faking It For Real
Give yourself away and find the fake in me. – Elvis Costello
Ken Smith is the Elvis Costello of Landscape Architecture. A potpourri
of kitsch, deep one-liners, and catchy riffs. For Smith, 185 crushed
recycled rocks + 7 tons crushed glass + 4 tons rubber mulch + 560
artificial boxwoods equals MoMA’s new roof garden. What a guy.
cont'd
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Part 3: Exporting Exurbia
Today’s companies are more like countries than companies. –Tom Waits
The recent opening of Wal-mart in San Juan Teotihuacán, a mere 1.5 miles
from the ruins, offers a glimpse into America’s largest exportable
entity: Wal-mart-urbia. Wal-mart-urbia = 170,000sf warehouse + one
parking space per 1,500sf + little green islands + highway
infrastructure. Wal-mart has become so dominant that it is a roving
mobile country with its own transport, its own economy, and its own
exportable version of 'stand-alone' urbanity.
cont'd
http://www.archinect.com/views/view.php?id=11202_0_36_0_C