Beauty(Program) and the Beast(Aesthetic) a Rem Koolhaas story
Look I think that Rem Koolhaas is one of the most provocative architects of the modern era. THAT BEING SAID in my opinions some of his buildings look terrible. The Seattle Public Library has an amazing programatic layout with amazing reasoning and I can even say that the structural design is amazing, BUT it looks terrible from the outside. The same can be said with the Taipei Performing Arts Center. Both have amazing layouts and reasoning for the thought invoking interiors but when it comes to just having to look at them it becomes an extreme labor. With all this being said I still see the importance for the buildings and can see past the simplistic external design and would not change them for that would change the history of architecture itself.
Wow, you have an interesting point, Hunter. I think both of these buildings are very interesting on the inside. Wonder what the community of Taipei thinks of the building? We don't talk about it much, but I wonder how architectural tastes change between cultures?
ReplyDeleteI have to think that when there is such a level of thought to other areas of the building and design, there will be other areas that do not seem as 'complete'. The Seattle Library, for example, does not look like anything more than a delicate glass sculpture from the exterior. But it you look at the conditions of those spaces on the interior and the building jumps in magnitude. I too wonder how these two different cultures view the two projects respectively.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Hunter, these buildings are amazing inside and have wonderful structural systems. I also agree that the exteriors are not at the same level of craft as the inside, but I believe it still gets people to talk about them. People see these buildings from the outside and will still talk about whether it is positive or negative.
ReplyDeleteThe way I see Rem Koolhaas is that he is so focused on the experience on the interior (especially what is happening in section) that the exterior just follows. While I am not the biggest fan of how provocative the massing is, it is what gets seen. Because of its uniqueness, people will take photos of these structures because it is something different. This goes along the point David made with pinterest. We fid these images that we love, but the building could be absolute garbage because it is just one image of one part of the building. Koolhaas does a great job at giving a design layers and something students will study for ages to come.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think that both of these examples are terrible looking buildings. However, I think that once you learn how to look at them then maybe they will become more interesting. This makes me wonder who star-chitects really design for. Do they design for themselves, the public, or other architects?
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