Architecture of Disconnection and the Present Past

https://www.portmanusa.com/assets/lib/2015/06/08/d354a1861cc1408029b9ff204aaf71f6.jpg

While reading reviews of John Portman’s built architecture, many critics expressed a thought of dislike towards his work since it turns it’s back to the city. However, the fact is that given the fragile nature of social context at the moment of it’s conception, the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta was built with the intent of creating an interior world, glamorous and beautiful, secluded within the safety of the built architecture and separate from the exterior context. It may have been a beautiful way of creating a response to the social situation present then. But today, in my mind, it would seem dysfunctional as an architect to disconnect from the context so brutally and yet that is what we seem to embody in our daily lives. Experiences completely disconnected, existing in isolation from each other (watching a movie, playing a video game, experiencing “China town” in New Jersey, New York, New Orleans, etc), each built form becoming a completely different experience (a metaphoric archipelago.)

In fact this culture of disconnection is expressed more vividly in Non Places. “If a place can be defined as relational, historical and concerned with identity, then a space which cannot be defined as relational, or historical or concerned with identity will be a non-place”.  As explained, the act of stating the name of the place (or a label assigned) itself disconnects the observer from truly experiencing the reality of the space. At the same time, the name comes attached with previous connotations associated with what the observer has experienced/ imagined so far (the observer’s perception of riding a horse). And this causes another break (or continuity maybe?) in the temporal experience. At the same time, the inexperienced traveler (without expectations/ preconceived notions) would be able to experience the place without any predisposed assumptions and see the reality of it (as is today) without the reference of the past it embodies.

Side note - 1. John Portman: Reading about deep atria he created in the base of private buildings brought to mind a project from my Undergraduate Architecture design studio, when I created a high-density high-rise residential tower with a similar massing at the base with the intent to create a world within the building disconnected from the existing congestion just outside the periphery of the boundary wall.

Once again, it is interesting to know that my design intent and outcome has roots/ precedents in architectural history.

2. Rem Koolhaas: In stark contrast to 'culture of Congestion' where Rem Koolhaas puts forth his argument and conclusions very systematically , this piece of literature seems to read more like the rant of a frustrated/ amused mind (can't seem to tell the difference with his writing). But as you progress through the reading, the ambiance or state of mind the author is trying to recreate/ evoke becomes apparent: the feeling of being surrounded by "junk" with junk space pervading everything we live in, as one continuous reality.