Architecture and the Stages of Life : late discovered, rarely thought about....

Nick, I am so glad you made it ! I am sorry the other Nick couldn't make it; He sends his regards and hopes to meet you on another occasion...

I am sorry; I would have liked so much to meet him;

The man who takes care of him daily invited him for Easter  to his home in  Albania ....an opportunity for him to fulfill one of his old dreams...

Albania !

Yes indeed, but this is a very old story...And besides, I have other things to talk about...It is probably the "Ides of March" for me and  I don't seem to be able to recover; Always bad news;

Like what?

I had been away for over three months and upon return to Hydra I found the three copies of the "Architect" waiting for me; the new magazine of the AIA , you know !

And why was this bad news?

Exponentially bad I should say! Not only was it impossible to figure out what was an article and what was an add, but the whole thing was a graphics mesh;  absolutely unreadable; Any graphic gimmick you can imagine, very little text,  and besides, it was extremely obvious there was some kind of "hibernating racism";

Racism? What short?

Well, "the covered /open short". Portraits of the rather old, in statesmanship-like relaxed positions, yet portraits to erase  from the memory the good old vigorous days of the older heroes; old Soleri, old Tigerman, old Graves, some notes on the now gone, old- bad-boy Harry Weese, and youthful vigorous  thumbnails of the  young up-coming ones ; The epitome of all this were the pictures of two articles, one on Predock, the other on Graves; I was particularly astonished to see two of the big and highly opposing in their attitudes idols of my own active years, men full of vigor, now in deplorable visual presence; Michael Graves , an innocent, smiling, totally un-recognizable human, more like a rabbit rather the leading architect of  years back, one of the heroes who had created an era in well intended attempt to "simply Humanize modernism" , as he so clearly declares, while Predock, still standing up, with broken hand from a motorcycle accident,  yet beeming of happiness and enthusiasm, next to his  cycles  collection , in an office full of commissions; It was really startling, mixed feelings and on occasion very unpleasant for me ; Particularly seeing that unbelievably unrecognizable Graves; It was sad to hear that Graves has been struck by paralysis over a number of years, since 2006 I believe,  confined to a wheelchair, having  spent a number of years in the hospitals undergoing 17 operations during the last two years; I really felt  very sad and sorry for his problems;  only the picture in the magazine destroyed it all.

Come on, feel sad, but don't be hard on people; Particularly the old and the handicapped;

On the contrary; I feel in great sympathy and understand exceptionally well their problems; I just feel a bit unhappy that so many among the architects, Mike included, discovered rather late that architecture is not just for the healthy, for the young and full of life; it is also for the elderly and the handicapped;

Have I not been saying that all along?

Graves said he made a partnership  with a company that produces furniture and hospital equipment for the handicapped and he has been designing a new wheelchairs, a new system to help you stand up!

That is wonderful !!!

Exceptionally wonderful I should say; But where had all these Graves' gone when I was talking loudly about "Architecture and the Stages of life". Where have all the Architects and all the editors been all these years? Everybody was looking at Dubai, and the far East; Anyway, It is good Graves finally found that out. Everybody should collaborate, somehow to design the town suitable for all the stages of life; Hydra is not just enough; And Hydra needs much to be done, but you have all these historic preservationists and the archaeologists who resist on anything that would humanize and make accessible for everybody the whole settlement. I insist, go back and read my article from the UIA2005 in Istanbul. Do read it; And tell your students to read it. Also tell them to read the Michael Graves article in the "Architect" , but to avoid looking at Michael's picture; I wonder why he let them use it?

You are vain; You may become like this ;

Eat your tongue;

Now tell me; what would you prefer:  being, famous, or not famous and looking like yourself?    

What a question? Who cares about fame !!! Just be true to yourself; But above all , be healthy; Was Mike truthful? I believe he was , even though he made many mistakes in the process; Let me repeat: he said  he did postmodernism in order to humanize modernism . That was good and I take it for granted; no reason to disbelieve him; But he surely likes money and he is full of creative vigor; I only hope the industry for the handicapped may benefit from his recent efforts; only the problems is not just a wheel chair; it is much broader; Architects should learn the secret to good design is in the plan and in the cross section of buildings and settlements, and all the age groups can not operate appropriately  in all mixtures and in the "architectural excitement of the design of the years of youth". Once again, do read my "Architecture and the stages of Life" ; I believe you ought to point it to your students. 

I have read it; and will do it again. but now that you say it, I wonder how come you didn't notice in this issue of the "Architect", the monstrous complex of Moshe Safdie in Singapore; That complex of three humongous high-rise inverted "Λ" hotels lifting on their peak a huge linear concourse of all shorts , the "sky park" as they call it,  including an extraordinary cantilever observation deck on one side, and a huge linear volume of water , the "infinity pool", along with night clubs, palm trees and everything , and a casino, in "circus" gymnastics forty or fifty storeys above ground; An incredible feast of Las Vegas Casino-like architecture, of no apparent logic; Just the notion of all this water above the ground, is good enough to raise your blood pressure!

I saw it indeed, and you are absolutely right; I had actually seen it in the internet before, when checking some information on Singapore, a place I have never visited...You are right, it is an incredible feast ; awe and anxiety  just by looking in pictures ; The pictures in the "Architect" do not include the  "Thorn looking appendages of the structure to the left" ; there is no hint what this may be; perhaps theaters, perhaps some opera, yet far from what we remember from the Sydney Opera house by Utzon ; Perhaps a bit closer to a Calatrava form I recall from an opera or some symphonic Hall someplace in the Carribean. A "conquistador's" helmet of shorts ! let me know what these Singapore things are, if you find out. 

I promise, I'll do....This laptop of yours is extraordinary ! ...Give my regards to the other Nick.........

The "infinity pool": Thousands of tons of water over and above the highest buildings of the vicinity, a  cross-sectional decision inappropriate from the point of view of design with the stages of life in mind .The feelings of anxiety, insecurity, entrapment and fear make architecture "exclusionary" for certain age groups.         Photo source: the Internet

             Source of Photo above:  http://www.marinabaysands.com/

Note:                                                                      1. The comments above are refered to the issues of the magazine "Architect" no. 1,2 and 3(jan.Feb.March 2011)                      2.The Michael Graves photo mentioned above may be seen in : Mini Zeiger "An absurdly frustrating attempt at shaving in his hospital room motivated Michael Graves to become a champion of Universal Design-in healthcare, and everywhere"in  "Architect"(the Magazine fo the American Institute of Architects) Text by Mini Zeiger, Photo by Noah Kalina pp.152-153             3.For Predock photo mentioned in the text , see: "Architect", issue no.3, March 2011,p.79                                                 4.The note on Harry Weese was triggered by the excellent critique by Eve M.Kahn, on the book on Harry Weese by Robert Bruegmann (for more see: Ever M.Kanh, "The Complexities of a Pioneer", in "Architect", issue no.1, Jan.2011, pp. 104and 106    5.For drawings and pictures of the Marina Bay Sands architectural information, see : Sara Hart, "Marina Bay Sands" in magazine  "Architect", issue no.1, Jan.2011, pp.188-194. The pictures included in the present article come  from the following internet address: http://www.marinabaysands.com/

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