architecture experiences a continuous transformational process; elements
that were once functional slowly lose their functionality and serve merely
as references... heavy wooden shutters that once had a real purpose in
protecting
very fragile window-glass and weak sashwork are now referred to by fake
shutters that are stuck on the wall. The glass is now argon filled double
glazing in strong sash that can withstand the elements fine. But the
client/consumer wants to establish a referential connection to another era.
This also reminds me of the necropoli where low relief buildings that
represent palaces and the riches of urban life are like stone movie sets in
the near east, there are "doors" and "columns", etc... for the past to live
on in symbolic form...
We may live to see our own central concerns flattened and pasted on as
yet another stratum of history, as a symbolic reminder of a passage through
an era... a Tadao Ando tea house becomes the restroom, the garden filled
with minature Pruitt Igoe housing projects which serve as decorative
lanterns, Joseph Beuys kitchen designs with Fettecke lighting fixture made
from acrylic...
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