I visited the Gehry art museum on the campus of the University of Minnesota
a small scale version of the later Bilboa) a couple of weeks ago and found
several aspects of the space more interesting than I had expected.  I have
always marveled at how he was able to convert these 50's and early 60's
style sculptural forms, (more on that later) into construction documents and
thought that this was a technological leap due to CADD. But they had a room
dedicated to the design of the building and the drawings (sections, plans)
in it were all hand drawn to my surprise.  I had expected to find an array
of computer images and instead they were simple (not to the contractor I'm
sure) line drawings.

The other things that struck me were the oddly hacked together look of the
metal sheet that strained and puckered to fit the contortions required by
the undulating walls.  Their hand made look starkly and attractively
contrasted with the fluid design.  I understood why Gehry talked about
stuff, which in my mind implies a disdain for materials and their honest
qualities.  Stuff is what one calls anything that lacks inherent form or
content, like the universe before God started his project.  The distressed
sheet metal seemed to reflect this approach, its inherent qualities would
have allowed for proper forming to follow the complex curves but by being
simply tacked on and bend it looked like it was treated as stuff.

The surprisingly pleasing aspect of the building was that, despite the very
simple and un-inspiring internal lay-out, many of the rooms had interesting
piercings and elevations that let the fluid lines of the roof-lines into the
otherwise boxy galleries.  Very nicely done.


Later that week I visited the exhibition "Vital Forms" on the interaction of
high art and design between the late 40's to early 60's at the Brooklyn
Museum, (Mckim, Mead and White, around 1900.)  There were furniture and
models by Fredrick Keisler, the designer of Peggy Guggenheim's "Art of this
Century" gallery and other projects, that were nearly indistinguishable from
the line and masses of the recent Gehry's.  They only lacked the flashy
sheet metal skins.

I had just finished treating all of the statuary on the facade of the
museum.  30 gigantic limestone figures over 18 feet tall each, an immense
pediment group, all set within an elegantly detailed limestone Beaux-Arts
facade.  Up close, in addition to the detailing and beauty of the
sculptures, one sees how distinctly and uniquely each molding detail is
worked up, each of a hundred lion's heads is different, every acanthus leaf
slightly distinct.  From the ground it reads as consistent but the slight
variations lend a vibrancy and excitement that activates the potentially
solemn masses.

No stuff there.  Only a thorough understanding of proportion, massing and
the necessity of artistry and artisanship in the successful creation of the
building.

Mark


----- Original Message -----
From: "david west" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2002 1:45 AM
Subject: Re: Gehry and Stuff


> --- Ralph Walter <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Your
> Eminence,
> >
> > Mr. Gehry, in my opinion, is full of stuff.
>
> Ralph
>
> IMHO there can be no doubt that Mr Gehry has
> singlehandedly pushed the envelope of building
> technology further than almost anybody since Joseph
> Paxton or perhaps Antonio Gaudi.
>
> Putting aside questions of architectural merit, Gehry
> has been instrumental in the adoption of 3D CAD/CAM
> technology to develop from the modelling stage through
> the design and documentation stage to construction
> using a single/sequential set of electronic data.
>
> Speaking from a technological (is that technical?)
> viewpoint, the building envelopes of Gehry's more
> recent buildings are the equivalent of Formula 1 race
> cars.  You wouldn't want to own one, let alone drive
> one between home and work, but the developments for
> the racetrack this year will influence the car you do
> drive within the next decade if not before.
>
> So too, with Gehry and construction.
>
> There is little doubt in my mind that our successors
> will venerate Gehry in the manner we venerate
> Sullivan, Wright, Mies and even Johnson.
>
> sign me
> sucked in by the seductive curves and blinded by the
> brilliant reflections
>
>
> http://my.yahoo.com.au - My Yahoo!
> - It's My Yahoo! Get your own!
>