Roarke, Zumthor, and Nouvel
Steven Harris discusses everyday architecture as differing
from the models of the past and letting go of the “architecture first” ideas of
the past. He romanticizes the everyday
as an organic growth not led by a single idea.
One statement he made was “There is no Howard Roarke of the everyday.” This intrigued me as I have been in the midst
of reading The Fountainhead. I don’t
fully agree with Harris if you look more deeply at the character of Howard
Roarke and the work of architects today.
Roarke was an idealist who would rather not work in
architecture than work for the wrong cause. If looking at him through this lens, a person
with strong convictions about the importance of the everyday could be
considered a “Roarke”. I wonder if Peter
Zumthor serves us in this position.
With
a passion for buildings that age, he writes in Thinking Architecture that he
looks to create architecture that is an envelope for life. In this way, is he creating an architecture
for the everyday like Jean Nouvel in Nemausus?
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