Comments on: Lost in the towers.

By: Ricardo

Ricardo — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:09:08 +0000

I used to go over to the Bonaventure in downtown LA about once a week when I worked in the area. It already has that second class look and smell and many of the shops are closed up. Maybe the smell was due to the indoor water feature. It has little balconies on the levels below the food court with exercise stations from the health club which look very odd.

The RenCen was the last job my carpenter dad worked on before retirement. Built after I moved away, I just might visit when we arrive in August for the 40th year class reunion.

By: Jolene

Jolene — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:55:48 +0000

Speaking of interesting things happening in China, here (via Andrew Sullivan’s blog) is an article about what happens when millions of not-very-well-schooled speakers start speaking English.
An excerpt:

“Thanks to globalization, the Allied victories in World War II, and American leadership in science and technology, English has become so successful across the world that it’s escaping the boundaries of what we think it should be. In part, this is because there are fewer of us: By 2020, native speakers will make up only 15 percent of the estimated 2 billion people who will be using or learning the language. Already, most conversations in English are between nonnative speakers who use it as a lingua franca.”

By: Jolene

Jolene — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:28:35 +0000

Was fun on Sunday afternoon too, moe. In 1985, I saw a troupe of Chinese acrobats, part of China’s earliest efforts to show off the talents of its performers. They were hysterical–excellent acrobats, but no showmanship. Poor-quality costumes and no sense of how to relate to the audience. Maybe we just had the third-string team, but, if not, they have obviously learned a lot.

You might be interested in James Fallows’s observations about some of the not-ready-for-prime-time things China is doing in the lead-up to the Olympics. I can only imagine what it’s like to put together an event of that scope in any country, but the idea of a semi-dictatorial, economically marginal country preparing to welcome people from throughout the world and the international press is mind-boggling. Would be fascinating to have an inside view of the decision-making there. Anyone who had such a view would also have the makings of a great book.

By: moe99

moe99 — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:56:13 +0000

Here’s something fun for Sat night (it still is here in the Pacific daylight time zone). Make sure you stay for the finale. Unbelievable! China circus on the Russian bar:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PRJxJdgc4Ng&feature=related

By: Danny

Danny — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:19:35 +0000

Wow, the Salk Institute. Is that really considered a thing of beauty by a large community of architectural geeks? I would have never guessed.

I graduated from UC San Diego, which is right across the street and shares a lot of the same architectural “ambiance” with said Institute, assuming dreary slabs of concrete are what get you going. For the life of me, I could not have found these structures more ugly and depressing. It was like someone looked at the beauty of the Pacific there in La Jolla and said, “What can we do to make this place look like a sterile slum.”

The buildings kind of evoke the projects in Chicago to me. And I used to park at or near the Institute all the time because there was never enough parking on campus. I remember walking back from the cliffs at the hang-glider port, overlooking the ocean, and then seeing all of these concrete monstrosities and thinking it was all low-budget, utilitarian dystopia.

Now you guys are telling me they really paid a lot and were going for this look. Hmmm.

DISCLAIMER: I am not and architect and do not play one on TV.

By: Jeff (the mild-mannered one)

Jeff (the mild-mannered one) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:50:50 +0000

Catherine — in San Antonio, try to see the Spanish Missions, aka San Antonio Missions National Park, operated by the National Park Service: the Alamo was the most northern of them, but is now all about Texas patriotism. Mission Concepcion, Mission San Juan Capistrano, Mission Espada, and Mission San Jose are all founded and originally built c. 1690-1720, and the buildings and grounds are impressive and evocative architecture. If you’re limited in time, hit Concepcion and San Juan — they’re embedded in modern neighborhoods, dotted along the river to the south (extending way south of San Antonio proper), and there are great neighborhood restaurants near the closest three (esp. San Juan).

There are functioning parishes still using the insides, on an agreement with NPS to manage the grounds, exteriors, and interpretation, and you are welcome to wander inside other than Sunday morning and 8-9 am weekdays. Well worth some side tripping to fit in, even if you never saw the movie “The Mission,” and if you did, you just can’t miss seeing real deal, preserved as if out of an Amazonian mist.

By: Terry WAlter

Terry WAlter — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 08:29:47 +0000

I think both candidates should post a top 10 list of things they want to apologize for. “If ANYBODY was offended that I breathed in air and emitted carbon dioxide, I’m sorry”. And any other inane tripe the professional victims & hatchet men want to hear. The Noonan method would sure be a lot more entertaining than the watered down Pablum we are being forced to suffer through.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:32:29 +0000

Deborah, I have made the pilgrimmage to the Salk Institute and the Yale museum that Louis Kahn did, and they were well worth the effort. Have not made it to Ft. Worth… try to avoid TX… ironically heading to San Antonio for work tomorrow. Meanwhile, I will definitely put that movie in my Netflix cue. Do you know of any other buildings worth the trip? I’ve always wanted to see that church in Rochester. Any other architects you like almost as much?

By: Jeff (the mild-mannered one)

Jeff (the mild-mannered one) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:49:55 +0000

Don’t want to sound like i’m venting at the end of a rough week in a bad month on a late night (all true), but while i’ve not been a Peg Noonan fan right along (check the blog archive here, among others), but are we talking about this:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121450930616708139.html?mod=todays_columnists

‘Cuz i can’t see where she isn’t saying some pretty reasonable things and likely scenarios without calling the election for anyone, least of all McCain.

To which i necessarily add, as many of us recall without looking it up:

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2008/01/28/john-mccain-prisoner-of-war-a-first-person-account_print.htm

The lady has a point is what i’m saying. If saying Obama isn’t a sure-fire lock on the final ballot 4 months out is mean-spirited demagoguery, sorry to have sinned in that unexpected direction. Barack would win tomorrow, but i’m listening to what he says the next sixteen weeks.

And i’ve already heard a *bunch* of DSA liberals say if Obama doesn’t support overturning the Heller decision, they don’t know why they bothered showing up for the primary vote and won’t cast a ballot in the general. It’s as if he’s gonna say next that we won’t have all troops out of Iraq by Christmas ‘09.

Yep.

By: Deborah

Deborah — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:41:30 +0000

Where do I begin?

I work for an architecture firm as a graphic designer and my husband is an architect with his own practice here in Chicago. John Portman has been a puzzle to us for years, very spotty work. A few really good things a lot of bad.

I think Portman did the O’Hare Hyatt back in the late 70s. I was there a few months ago and what a dog it is. Brutal concrete and human scaleless misery. Shame on him. But I remember when it was in all the architecture magazines as the best thing since sliced bread.

Catherine REgarding Louis Kahn, our favorite architect of all time. Have you ever seen the Kimball in Fort Worth? or the Salk Institute in San Diego? Fabulous. The movie by his son, “My Architect”, is definily worth seeing.