Monday Links

I love the new entry! from above it looks like ripples in a pond going outward- like the way art affects us, maybe? and I love how the curves echo the dome and the contrast of materials is very beautiful. at night, it is so spectacular- then it becomes a waterfall, again the water reference, Roberto? Obviously I don't know if I'm reading into things you never intended, but I think it's wonderful and a totally fresh take on a grand entrance.

Posted by: bxgrl at June 30, 2008 10:14 AM

FYI 9:54- the Brooklyn Museum originally had a grand staircase that rivaled the Met's but when they built Eastern Parkway, it was demolished, I think as a safety hazard. the entry you were used to was the driveway that went beneath the staircase to the ground floor. I used to work there- the Brooklyn Museum is awesome. we used to call the attic, where deceased chairs went, Chair Heaven- it was huge!

Posted by: bxgrl at June 30, 2008 11:01 AM

11:59- I can't imagine why you live in Brooklyn then. The nazis did not hate all thing modern. they, in fact, thought of themselves as the new modern age and the reason they built in antique styles was to promote their vision of power an authority, which they felt was best expressed by those styles.

However you're obviously equating sentimentality with a love of old buildings. Perhaps at its lowest common denominator, you could say that's so. But you would be missing the many reasons Brooklynites love old buildings including their artistry, quality, craftsmanship and history. That has absolutely nothing to do with "backwards, narrow, fascist thinking and behavior."

And for all the wonderful, progressive architecture in Europe, there's a reason so many old structures stillexist- Europeans love and appreciate them and work hard to preserve them.

I should also point out that you are laying political issues onto the argument of old vs new architecture. By saying sentimentality (the reason we love old buildings) is the result of narrow, fascist thinking, and associating democracy with new building, you're doing the same thing the nazis did- recognizing the political power of architecture. the flaw in your thinking is that new doesn't necessarily mean good and doesn't mean democracy.But if you're going to condemn sentimentality, just understand that democracy is based on some very old concepts which an awful lot of us are very sentimental about.

Posted by: bxgrl at June 30, 2008 12:38 PM

Roberto- wish you had done all this when I worked there at the end of the 80's! I just keep going back to the entry way- and of course now that you mentioned amphitheater all the historical stuff comes rushing up and then I also notice how looking up through the glass is like looking through a cloud bank. It's like this enormous fusion of water, air, history, architecture and earth- and I have to tell you I am not a great proponent of mixing architectural styles at all but this just works so beautifully. And you've brought back life to a wonderful institution that was a true forgotten jewel for so many years.

Do you think they should have put rest stops along the old grand staircase? I have visions of the bodies of those who couldn't make it to the door artfully arranged on the marble steps :-)

Posted by: bxgrl at June 30, 2008 2:56 PM

"Meaning I don't cling to something simply because it's from the past. Which is what the anti-modern people in Brooklyn do so ardently. None of them are able to articulate what is significant or important about a certain building or nearby architecture, the "context" they are so rigid about."

I disagree. Most people love history in Brooklyn and can very well articulate why they want to preserve as much as possible. It's a common impulse all over the world. the Europe you admire so much- look at the history. History is a living thing- many of the buildings and neighborhoods being torn up are not just the past, but the present too. Most people who rant about hating modern, are referring to the destruction of quality buildings and craftsmanship, and the human scale of brownstone neighborhoods which are part of what makes Brownstone Brooklyn so wonderful. If you are going to destroy that for a fedders box, or a massive people warehouse like AY will be, then yes they'll protest vehemently.

But when you build something as well thought out and magical as the new museum entryway, people love it.

To preservationists, is it about preserving original context. To an artist it's about the integrity of his or her work. McKim, Mead & White created some of the most influential and spectacular architecture of its era, and yet there should be enough flexibility that these buildings can change and grow with our needs. But to tear down a beautiful Beaux Arts apartment building to put up a cheap, badly designed, but trendy looking box is not just artistically and historically unacceptable, it's shortsighted. Gehry is a perfect example of a name architect who really cares nothing about context or quality. I'd rather keep the most mediocre brownstone than let him put up that travesty he designed for AY.

Re the nazis- you are not understanding what they meant by modern. For them it was the modern world which did not recognize their "superiority" in all things and hence everything was degenerate. But they believed they were the coming New World- I'm just saying that equating love of antique styles and nazism is a little -or a lot- over the top. Hitler could have cared less about style- it was all about selling a political mindset, it was about merchandising.

Posted by: bxgrl at June 30, 2008 3:21 PM