A Worshiper of the Flesh
January 30, 2007 at 7:07 pm
‘Architecture and war are not incompatible. Architecture is war. War is architecture. I am at war with my time, with history, with all authority that resides in fixed and frightened forms. I am one of millions who do not fit in, who have no home, no family, no doctrine, no firm place to call my own, no known beginning or end, no “sacred and primordial site.” I declare war on all icons and finalities, on all histories that would chain me with my own falseness, my own pitiful fears. I know only moments, and lifetimes that are as moments, and forms that appear with infinite strength, then “melt into air.” I am an architect, a constructor of worlds, a sensualist who worships the flesh, the melody, a silhoutte against the darkening sky. I cannot know your name. Nor you can know mine. Tomorrow, we begin together the construction of a city.’
Architecture is really hard to specifically define, or at least for me, because for me, it engulfs all that is beauty, rythm and form… I believe this is one of the most touching quotes I have ever encountered in my architectural life. Architecture is not only beams, concrete, floors and roofs, WE are architecture we are the ones that define wether we live rejoiced or encarcerated, wether we breathe in the summer air, or work under floureschent lights, architecture is life interpreted, concept in motion.For me, it has all become a journey, no… a mission, I am in perpetual search of beauty, of that little detail, of that space, that air, that strenght that ‘silohuette against a darkening sky‘, that syllable that when uttered will restore our innocence and pureness of being.
These are the things that keep me up at night… lines, shadows, volumes, lights flud my head and deprive me of any sane sleep. I worry about my competence, I doubt myself as a creator of structural life, I fear the land of the grey masses, I sometines feel on the verge of tears because I feel I’m not doing enough. I feel as though a huge resposibility lies on my shoulders, not only as an architect but as a human being, as an INTEGRAL human being… these things I fear also are the basic lines of motion on which I thrive upon (or at least try to), they are my fears, they are what try to hold me behind, and I hate them, I despise their sneer, their constant gaze, so what is there to do? break away of course, break away as hard and as fast as I can, break away and leave them behind.
These thoughts break me apart, but that is not entirely bad… I mostly welcome the discomfort, the unbalance, I enjoy breaking away with my sanity piece by piece, night after night, model after model. I feel that that is the only way in which I will be able to change my perspective, change my eyes, my skin, my touch, only then will I be able to build pureness…
The Postal Service - This Place is a Prison
Portrait of David - Constant Flow
Martyn Bennett - Liberation
Max Richter - On The Nature of Daylight
Amon Tobin - One Small Step
Images: LOW vanity pictures
I am having a good time with the Max Richter piece.
I am trying to read your words but I am visually impaired and cannot easily make out the gray-on-brown very well even though I have jacked up the text size.
The being-at-war mode of view is difficult because it carries with it such a broad spectrum of urgency which prevents the state of aesthetic nuance that one strives for in an artistic endeavor.
I am hopeful that any effort towards making the world more tolerable to live in is not wasted.
When the medical community declares war on cancer they sometimes forget during the battle that it is healing they are working towards and that it is the life they are preserving that is the point, not the disease they are trying to destroy.
Sometimes I get my fix from little kids in strollers…they are just groovin’ on everything and are very generous with their enthusiasm.
“Sometimes I get my fix from little kids in strollers…they are just groovin’ on everything”
I love that!
mmm… I see your point and feel the weight of it, you are right about the war thing… war brings with it such tenacity towards beating an oponent one often loses sight of what is the true objective of the battle… I sometimes find myself caught between the two extremes of the specturm total groove and incessant urgency, and I find both rather gratifying in different levels, it really does depend on my mood I guess.
I can only hope to get it right most of the times, and learn what to sponge and what no to sponge… all is time… time time time… jeje.. but in Roisin Murphy’s words “Time takes too much time”
< *)))><
Fishy I’ve been watching some movies here lately and I think you might like Peter Greenaway’s films, he puts a lot of attention to architecture and interiors on his movies (he even has a great movie with some dark overtones entitled “the belly of an architect” about an american architect going to Italy and… well I recommend you to watch his films.) About the constant fixation on architecture on his movies he said:
“In some ways (I use it) because architecture is the ultimate multimedia and it creates the situation which exists for everyday 9-5 living. You can forget cinema, you can go through life without worrying about a painting, you can even, although impoverish your life by not listening to music, but you cannot avoid architecture. We need it, it is one of the essential elements. Certainly in the northern hemisphere is shelter. And a shelter, in a sense, is the basic level of architectural situation. If I ever believed in reincarnation and I wanted to come down again, I would very much like to be an architect, for very obvious reasons.”
I’ve seen that movie, “belly of the architect”… it’s a WEIRD movie jaja! though I enjoyed it pretty much, I’ve been told that guy makes great movies.. eventhough I’ve only see the Belly one jijiji!!! :P
Mucho amor Moka… ojala y estes con bien, te mando mi amor
I have no idea why MdM layout keeps breaking. sidebar is down again.
yeah.. i noticed that…
the sidebar only goes down on this specific individual post though… maybe you need to edit something about it, the word line up?
[...] Architecture and war are not incompatible. Architecture is war. War is architecture. I am at war with my time, with history, with all authority that resides in fixed and frightened forms. I am one of millions who do not fit in, who have no home, no family, no doctrine, no firm place to call my own, no known beginning or end, no ’sacred and primordial site’. I declare war on all icons and finalities, on all histories that would chain me with my own falseness, my own pitiful fears. I know only moments, and lifetimes that are as moments, and forms that appear with infinite strength, then ‘melt into air’. I am an architect, a constructor of worlds, a sensualist who worships the flesh, the melody, a silhoutte against the darkening sky. I cannot know your name. Nor you can know mine. Tomorrow, we begin together the construction of a city. [via Motel de Moka] [...]