Soaring

The modernist movement in architecture continues to be alive and well, partly because it is cheap, and partly because it fits so well within the depressing monotony of architecture that already exists. So when someone does something that is beautiful and (literally and figuratively) outside the box, it is refreshing and energizing... Even if it's just a proposal and unlikely to be built (see reasons above).

Why give us one more of these:

(The UN Building in New York - Le Corbusier (and others); 1952)

When you could get something beautiful like this:

Mark Foster Gage Architects, Central Park Tower

(pics from: http://www.6sqft.com/could-this-otherworldly-102-story-tower-covered-in-ornaments-be-coming-to-57th-street/?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=webfeeds)

I know, there's the undeniable feel of Gotham from Tim Burton.

Which, I really love, if I'm honest. Whenever I think of Gotham, this is what I think of, and although I love the reboot with Christian Bale (he's a way better Batman than Michael Keaton) it's clear that the reboot took its stylistic cues from this. It's delightful - a beautiful city gone to seed, still proud, but with a layer of grime and grit. And I think it's awesome.

There's something to be said for architecture that is beautiful as well as functional - in fact, one of the functions of architecture should be to showcase the craftsmanship and design capability of artists and architecture, inspiring all who view beautiful work.

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2020 - A retrospective

There will no doubt be many retrospectives written about the year that was 2020. It was a tough year for most, a good year for many, and generally speaking a very interesting year. Which reminds me of the the old curse - may you live in interesting times. Because, you see - interesting does not always mean good. It does not mean better. It does not mean happy. It just means interesting. So to highlight just how interesting things were, I offer the following post about things that went on. Or didn’t went on. It’s not intended to be chronological, necessarily, or even accurate. It’s just some of my observations.... Let’s start with the pandemic. Pandemic is a word that was previously the realm of science fiction and/or horror writers (The Stand comes to mind). Late 2019 a disease was identified in Wuhan, China, which is a place I’d never heard of before. Apparently coming from some kind of exotic meat market, this strain of Coronavirus was something that the world hadn’t seen before. Ma

Is this thing still on?

Does anyone even blog anymore? I remember when it first got started and everyone was having a blog. I like writing, and I do a lot of it in my professional life, but not everything makes it onto this blog, which is where a lot of my personal thoughts come out. I put more into Facebook lately, too, because it's a little easier. But there's something to be said for this long-form writing exercise, and I think I will continue here periodically. You don't mind, do you? Well, in my last post I wrote about how difficult things were for me at the time. That changed in July when I finally got a job working for the State of Utah. I was the program manager for the moderate income housing database program, and that meant I worked from home a lot but also went in to Salt Lake when needed, mostly on the train. It was a good experience, for the most part, and I'm grateful for the things I learned even in the short time I was there. In October I started working for Weber County in t

The Other Art

I'm not sure we appreciate photography as much as we do other art forms. Part of this comes from the reality that surrounds and permeates a photograph - it's very, very real, and the photographer strives for clarity and crispness in the representations. Perhaps this is why black and white images continue to be relevant - they strip away extraneous information (color) and leave us with something that is at once familiar and also non-existent - for nothing exists in black and white. Nothing. I also think that pictures are becoming too common-place... Everyone has a camera in their pocket, and while that's a very democratic thing (everyone can express themselves in a picture easily and readily, and can find an audience for these images, which are casually taken and casually viewed, and perhaps just as casually forgotten) I think that we embrace that casual attitude, and it spills over to all aspects of the media, making it impotent. So I read this article this morning: h

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