architecture
Frank Gehry: The Wes Anderson of Architecture
I twittered that I was on my way to the Bauhaus exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art and a friend responded that Walter Gropius was the Wes Anderson of architecture. After thinking very long about this prospect I realized that the closest analogy would actually be Frank Gehry, the wonky starchitect known for milking his dying brand long after it was fresh and innovative. This also brings up the close analogy between Gehry and M. Night Shyamalan but I think Anderson wins out since Shyamalan’s work is far too serious.
You might want to queue up some Rolling Stones to accompany this post.
Around Kassel
Much of Kassel was destroyed in the war so there are three distinct kinds of buildings in the city: the first are the pre-War buildings which are made with brick and are more earth toned in color. These appear to be from the late 19th century and if you look closely you can see the scars in the stone work from the bombings. The second are the buildings that were rebuilt after the war. Everyone has the same decorative style but they use stucco instead of brick for the body of the building which gives them an almost plasticy feel, like these were mass produced knock offs (which in fact they were). The last kind of buildings are the modern ones. These range from classic Bauhause to poor-man’s Bauhause, from Soviet housing blocks to elegant towers-in-the-park. All these buildings are built literally right next to one another, seemingly everywhere. It makes for quite the juxtaposition.
Back in Boston: Conclusion
So what are my final thoughts on my trip to Boston? I left the city with a mix of feelings. On one hand I am happy the city looks so good, lots of new buildings and stores, neighborhoods cleaning up. Most of the people I met weren’t cold mass holes like I [...]
