"Timelessness"

Since this week of the seminar of architectural reflection, the author is very fascinated about the idea of "Timelessness" by Peter Eisenman.

From the beginning of the study of architecture, the author is already wondering why should we read so much about the history of architecture, in provision that we have already known some general idea of the architectural history. For a designing practice, the author thinks that the designers should look more towards the future rather than having reference or representation from the factual past.

As the author is not a good architectural student, only when he forced to read the article he knows what Peter Eisenman does and his architectural style. The author feels that the way he thoughts, although is not coherence, has some similarity with Peter Eisenman.

His prompt idea is "timelessness". Although the author is not really understanding the true meaning behind this word, he could understand that we should develop our own architectural style without refer or represent any style that is existed already. A non-representational figuration of the object should be presented.

The author then searched about his favourite work by Peter Eisenmen - City of culture of Galicia in Spain. He literally extracted the geometry of the city grid of the town and overlaid onto the plan of the building cluster. This is the act of transforming the geometry into a form, yet it is inspired by the old city of Santiago and five pilgrim routes. So would it be the paradigm of the argument he raised?

Eisenman Architects - City of Culture of Galicia

More informations:

Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects

"Venice, you are too fake."

The author of the blog has been to Venice for 5 days right after his examination on Rem Koolhaas, Sullivan and South Bank of London. This is the city where is the dream of travelling destination of many ordinary people. Yet, the author, who is totally abnormal, feels that the city is absolutely bored. It is so fortunate that Venice has biennale, which could deceive other non-ordinary people to go here.

The author has a minute of exclaimation when he saw the bridge by Calatrava, but after that, he has whole 4 days of disappointment.

When he travelled through the city, nothing seems to be so unfamiliar - lots of tourists walking along the pedestrian street, where the building is tightly packed with generic shops on the street level, lots of canals where the tourists and habitants travelled by water buses.

The whole Venice is like an expired museum.

The author sees a bridge with stainless steel structure system disguised by wood structure...Italian speaks English...St. Marco Piazza is a place with generic shops and ristoranta, with people coming from all over the world... It is a place solely fulfilled the desire and interest of tourist. Nothing other than that.

Authenticity is no longer valid in here.

Why don't we just go to Macau's Venetian Casino, where you can find the architectural style which mimicking the real one. In terms of the effectiveness of bringing tourist and revenue, it is more real then the real! And you don't need to consider if it is a cloudy day, rainy day or freezing day. It is 24/7 interior.

Extended Information:
Ponte della Costituzione (Designed by Santiago Calatrava)