Word: architects
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...five-page prospectus. A couple of years later, the House Ethics Committee released an appendix to its report on the Speaker's various ethics problems. The appendix was an amazing compendium of Gingrich's notes, speech drafts, memos and correspondence--a glimpse into the soul of Newtworld's architect during his private moments. It included, among much else, a handwritten note by Gingrich from December 1992. "Gingrich--primary mission," it read in part. "Advocate of civilization. Definer of civilization. Teacher of the rules of civilization...Leader (possibly) of the civilizing forces...
...glut of architects. A surfeit of architects. Whatever the collective noun for architects is, there sure were a lot of them visiting the Graduate School of Design last week. Following Richard Meier earlier in the week, Renzo Piano, one of the world's foremost architects and the man responsible for the planned revamping of the Harvard University Art Museums, spoke to a packed Piper Auditorium last Thursday. Famous for his work in such major spaces as Houston's Menil Collection, Osaka's Kansai Airport and Paris's Centre Georges Pompidou, Piano's speech attracted so large a crowd that...
Despite the cramped conditions and the technical flaws of the secondary broadcast, the Italian architect's one-and-a-half-hour speech went over well with the audience. Introduced as the "romantic architect," to contrast with Meier's classical leanings, Piano lived up to his billing by choosing to speak about his concern for "lightness" and fluidity. Although he did not mention his forthcoming plans for the Harvard museums, and instead spoke only about other recently opened projects, the palpable sense of excitement at architecture's possibilities demonstrated that Harvard's own museums are in good hands...
...Piano's words, architecture involves walking "the knife edge between art and science": One day the architect is a poet, the next day an engineer. That fine edge was highlighted in the first part of his speech, which dealt with his redesign of Berlin's Potsdamer Platz. This enormous, 5 million square foot space resonates with cultural significance, since it is both the former cultural center of Europe as well as the center of tragedy. The Cold War divide between East and West Germany, however, is now a matter for the history books, and Piano's task, as he noted...
While he lyricized the locale, Piano did not forego the practical aspects of architecture. Large urban areas pose complexities for any architect: There is a danger of slipping into a uniform design, ignoring the fact that cities draw life from the evolution of buildings over time. All told, the slides presented certainly showed a city center that avoided that danger, and mirrored the unpredictable and complex interactions of humanity. Built around a recently-opened piazza, the Potsdamer Platz as envisioned by Piano will be a meeting point that encompasses vast differences, where elements of the "sacred," like libraries, meet elements...