Word: brise
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...stone will give the Getty a nice grittiness lacking in Meier's previous work. Instead of the usual aloof Meieresque facades, the buildings are full of verve; they are even a bit manic. Instead of sleek uninterrupted planes of metal and glass, there are balconies, loggias and shady brise-soleils. If the new Getty becomes a lively, civilized place, it will be because, for all the white-on-white elegance, it is not pristine and hermetic, not another gorgeous monolith. The rugged terrain and Meier's good planning sense have dictated a dense urban messiness, with odd angles and almost...
...apartments that were cut out to the top of the building, where they command a better view and higher prices. The blue grid on the south side of the building adds not only color but also shade, in the manner of Le Corbusier's famous brise-soleil, or sun baffle. "If you try to be different," says Fort-Brescia, "be sure that it functions right. My father was a developer. We know better than to fool around with costs and construction schedules...
...politely between the clumsily classical Everett Dirksen Senate Office Building and the Federal and Queen Anne-style Sewall-Belmont House and garden, headquarters of the venerable National Woman's Party. The Hart Building's classically well-ordered, box-construction windows, reminiscent of Le Corbusier's famous brise-soleils, or sun screens, harmonize with the forest of Roman columns that flourishes on Capitol Hill. Most important, of the six congressional office palaces built in the 20th century, this is the first to make 20th century functional sense...
...make downtowns more accessible when Los Angeles was still getting used to stop lights. He envisaged cities with skyscrapers set in green spaces. He developed the original slab building that inspired the 1952 United Nations Secretariat but gave it character by breaking façades with what he called brise-soleils or deeply set sun-shaded windows...
Whatever its architectural advantages, the building unquestionably also has several drawbacks. The fact that the University was unwilling to spend $10,000 or so for heating coils underneath the ramp, makes the ramp useless for some four months of winter each year. The colors on many of the brise-soleil, however attractive, modify the light in several areas of the studios making working in color extremely difficult. And, for those who find the building intriguing in such respects as its constantly changing appearance as one walks past it, there are probably as many who feel that its style fits poorly...