not all that we seem

The graphics department at towers of ilium was tasked with finding some compelling images of Morocco. A Google search turned up this lovely view of Tuscany. No effort has been made to find pictures of Morocco that are similar--Assumptions of what that country looks like will be left to the imagination or to more thorough searches on the Internet.

and aldo rossi

Don't be a stodgy old fool! Get buried in post-modern splendor! Such is the legacy of Aldo Rossi, who continued the fine tradition of cemetery design. This structure is a highlight. It reminds its inhabitants of the office buildings where they toiled away their lives.

unencumbered by the weight of all these crowds

The machine in the garden usually implies some form of prosperity--and it matters little whether that belongs to the past, present, or future. The romanticism of the human intervention saves a natural landscape from drifting too far into the sublime. What is El Capitan without the scars of crampons?

The resurrection of old factory towns is a romantic pursuit. Those who indulge in it experience occasional victories, but at great cost. Cheaper to build a strip mall and a suburb where every house has an obligatory patch of chemically enhanced front lawn. The old factory towns decay better.

grid land

Multi-unit residential architecture has made some minor advances in the past few decades. Developers tend to focus on interior amenities like in-suite laundry closets and logical floor plans. Accessibility codes mandate well proportioned bathrooms and energy codes guarantee a comfortable indoor temperature.

Exterior treatments are another matter. Cheap windows and siding materials are the rule, and architects are asked to mitigate this obvious poverty with pointless massing and flashy colors. Monotonous grids are frowned upon except in luxury high-rises.

sailing for the horizon

Long suffering readers may note the inconsistent treatment of modern architecture on this blog. Although the overall tone is negative, grudging respect is accorded to some of the big names of the movement: Mies, Wright, Saarinen, Ben Thompson....all managed to produce memorable works. The harm they did with individual buildings in the service of their art is not the real issue. They inspired generations of less talented designers and brainwashed thousands of institutional clients. The mediocrity and hypocrisy that distinguishes so much of the practice of those educated in the tradition is discouraging. Now, preservationists are adding second rate design efforts to their list of protected buildings--the most egregious examples include anything by Paul Rudolph and most buildings in the greater Boston region. Ultimately, the indifference of the general public and the unchecked greed of developers may remove most of these insults from the landscape. Even if the replacements are banal, they won't be dripping with bombastic ideology and near complete lack of function.

Towers of ilium is seeking a marketing consultant to expand the reach of this blog. Inquiries can be slipped under the office door along with cash donations. It will be a competitive interview process.

ruin and hopelessness

Journalist Jill Lepore has a new piece in the New Yorker on the evolution of dystopian/utopian genre in modern media. She argues that we've entered a period of hopelessness and despair as real life events infect our production and consumption of the medium. Towers of ilium begs to differ--not just because of the overriding belief that we shall prevail, but because dystopic authors need to cultivate an extreme atmosphere of authenticity in order to sell their ideas. No one writes seriously about Utopias, and for that, we're grateful. It's no fun when everyone is having fun.

not zaha hadid

Towers of ilium has so far avoided any discussion of really famous architects. Today, we rectify that omission in order to discuss Richard Meier. Good, we got that out of our system.