“ARCHITECTURE is NOT POLITICS...
NOT ART...
NOT SCIENCE...
NOT ENGINEERING...
...it is the design of communicative spatial form.” -Patrik Schumacher, March 18, 2014
Disaster relief after the Japanese tsunami 2011
<”Mr. Ban, I wanted to thank you personally. My family and I lost everything, but your shelter in the baseball stadium has given us a place to stay...
...Now I am here helping as well.”>
<”I am glad for what little I can add. For me this is more than a disaster. It is a call to action.> <”This is my life’s work.”>
An interview with Patrik Schumacher
“I do not believe that the fate of my architecture depends on the realization of my political preferences.”
“It is Ban’s humanitarian work that the Pritzker jury emphasized in announcing the prize. I worry the prize criteria are now being diverted in the direction of political correctness.” “As opposed to Zaha Hadid winning the it despite her creating Muamar Quadafi’s conference center in Tripoli? The Pritzker is meant to honor an architect who’s work demonstratesamong other things-significant contribution to humanity through the art of architecture.”
“What about the fact that people are dying while building your design for the World Cup Stadium in Qatar?”
“It’s the government’s responsibility to-”
“A government you agreed to work with.”
“I wonder who one could work for by your standards. We have been criticized for our work in China, Azerbijan, and Mubarak’s Egypt. Abstaining from that work and leaving them isolated would only impede our progress to a globalized culture.
“When I was in Isfahan I noticed how much the poor are the ones who benefit from our architecture. They are the ones who live in the shanty towns just outside the monumental core, and they are the ones who enjoy the luxury of it on the weekends. I feel that our work in these other countries has the same benefit.”
“Mmmhmm, all right. And how about the upcoming Biennale in Venice? I understand Rem Koolhaas will finally be curating....”
“Rem has been one of the great innovators of our discipline, but I am afraid he does not understand what some of us are doing and achieving. His decision to exclude contemporary architecture from Biennale exhibits is gravely disappointing.”
“Not all architects get by on pretty curves alone.”
“Curvilinity clarifies connections. Symbols of national identity and culture are a distraction. They impede participation in globalized cultures. Parametricism on the other hand is saving “How would you architecture’s reason to exist. Now define parametricism?” we understand that all elements of architecture are parametrically malleable.” “Parametricism is a design language. A versatile and agile style...”
“Styles will pass. The current state of architecture is not in good health. la Biennale di Venezia
di Architettura Rem Koolhaas
“Through this examination of the fundamentals of historical architecture I believe that we will not only see the emergence of global architectural style over the past 100 years, “but also be able to more accurately speculate on the future.”
“This exhibit is the Elements of Architecture. Here you’ll find a series of rooms showcasing different basic ingredients of architecture like doors, windows, walls, and balconies.
“The balcony is interesting to consider as an isolated unit. While many of us think about outdoor spaces at hotels or resorts we miss out on the grave importance of the balcony in world history. Without the balcony, history would -look completely different. How many dictators and despots, revolutionaries and royals have utilized the balcony as their platform? Imagine them waving, declaiming, and rabble-rousing as they stand high above those they consider their lessers. Without the balcony, these momentous global events would not have happened.”
“Every building involves an ethical, political, social calculation. . . we can’t so easily shrug off the consequences ofwhat we design. Whatever we’re building, it’s going to monumentalize and entrench some ethical framework or another.” -Thomas Leslie Professor of Architecture Iowa State University