# Underground by David Macaulay

Underground is an incredible children book published in 1976 and drawn and written by David Macaulay. It is supposed to be a didactic and schematic explanation about the urban underground (foundations, sewers, subways etc.) but thanks to superb axonometrics from below and without the earth, this book acquire a beautiful artistic dimension. One would have then noticed the humorous touch of placing characters on those drawings' ground which fits with the lowest level of the buildings' foundations.

Underground by David Macaulay. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1976

Other books by Macaulay are available on google books (to some extents) including Unbuilding

# Blade Runner: settings, sketches, models etc.

Blade Runner has been filmed in the very early 80's and was therefore registered in the tradition of giant models and settings in order to achieve a science-fiction scenery.
I particularly invite you to watch this short documentary about the construction of the first scene of the movie offering a view on a dark Los Angeles which main light comes from the various oil rigs' fires. One get to learn in this documentary that those fire spills were originally shot for Michelangelo Antonioni's Zabriskie Point (see previous post) !
The following images are excerpted from a book entitled Film Architecture edited by Dietrich Neumann about which I should soon write another article...

# Little class of Camouflage in Architecture

I've been recently interested in camouflage in architecture and I excerpted the following documents from two books:
- Camouflage by Tim Newark. Thames and Hudson 2007
- Industrial Camouflage Manual. Pratt Institute 1942
When the first one (fourth first pictures) attempts to explore camouflage as much in military than in the animal world and in art, the second one was developed during the Second World War and was interestingly enough, intended to participate to the war effort.
I let you discover those pages that speak for themselves...

# The Character of the Joker in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight

The Dark Knight is extremely interesting for a lot of reasons. The attempt of Christopher Nolan to adapt the myth to a recognizable reality for example is certainly one of them...

But the main reasons to me come all from the character of the Joker. He is the only character who understands the totality of the situations.
As far as his own behavior is concerned, he tells Harvey Dent:
"I just do things. [...] I'm not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are." For this reason he can be considered as the quintessence of the artist and his elaboration of dilemmas -one man being killed or an hospital being destroyed, one boat full of innocents or the one full of criminals to be exploded- implying the absolute freedom of choice of the persons exists only to "send a message" as he says in the film while artistically burning a monumental pile of bank bills (French people would probably recall Serge Gainsbourg burning a 500 francs notes live on TV).
The other interesting about the Joker is that he also understands his relationship with Batman, whereas the latter still consider that "criminals aren't complicated". When Batman has the opportunity to kill him and that he does not, the Joker has this poetic statement: "This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object." The fact that those two characters can not destroy each other place them in an infinite combat which is not without recalling great myth from the Greek Antiquity.
As a conclusion I would argue that the fact that those very interesting psychologies are being expressed through a mass media movie is absolutely a great thing and allow a variety of levels of lecture for all, which deserve to be therefore called "democratic".

# Two lectures at Columbia upcoming

Columbia will soon hosts two interesting lectures:
- The first one is organized by the Department of Science in Advanced Architecture Design which will allow five formers students to present their works (including our friend Sofia Krimizi whose work has been published here before), the whole being moderated by Enrique Walker.
This lecture will occur this Friday 17th September at 6:30PM
- The second one will be given by Francois Roche (R&Sie(n)) on Wednesday 22nd September at 6:30PM. It is entitled Ecosophical Apparatuses and Schizoid Machines.

# Poetics of Relation by Edouard Glissant

Edouard Glissant is a magnificent poet-philosopher who develops the most beautiful French writing I've ever read. He is one of those authors that makes your reading slowing down (which in my case is miraculous) and moves you in your humanity.
As talented as Betsy Wing, his English translator, is, the beauty of language do not (and probably cannot) transfer from French to English but the substance remains...

Here are three excerpts of Poetics of Relation, one of his main books:

Imaginaire

Penser la pensée revient le plus souvent à se retirer dans un lieu sans dimension où l’idée seule de la pensée s’obstine. Mais la pensée s’espace réellement au monde. Elle informe l’imaginaire des peuples, leurs poétiques diversifiées qu’à son tour elle transforme, c’est-à-dire, dans lesquels se réalise son risque.

La culture est la précaution de ceux qui prétendent à penser la pensée mais se tiennent a l’écart de son chaotique parcours. Les cultures en évolution infèrent la Relation, le dépassement qui fonde leur unité-diversité.

La pensée dessine l’imaginaire du passé : un savoir en devenir. On ne saurait l’arrêter pour l’estimer, ni l’isoler pour l’émettre. Elle est partage dont nul ne peut se départir ni, s’arrêtant, se prévaloir.

Imaginary

Thinking thought usually amounts to withdrawing into a dimensionless place in which the idea of thought alone persists. But thought in reality spaces itself out into the world. It informs the imaginary of peoples, their varied poetics, which it then transforms, meaning, in them its risk becomes realized.

Culture is the precaution of those who claim to think thought but who steer clear of its chaotic journey. Evolving cultures infer Relation, the overstepping that grounds their unity-diversity.

Thought draws the imaginary of the past: a knowledge becoming. One cannot stop it to assess it nor isolate it to transmit it. It is sharing one can never not retain, nor ever, in standing still, boast about.

Répétitions

Ce flux de convergences, qui se publie sous la forme du lieu commun. Celui-ci n’est plus généralité reçue, convenance ni fadeur – il n’est plus évidence trompeuse, abusant le sens-commun -, mais acharnement et ressassement de ces rencontres. Tout alentour, l’idée se relaie. Quand vous éveillez un constat, une certitude, un espoir, ils s’efforcent déjà quelque part, ailleurs, sous une autre espèce.

Aussi bien la répétition est elle, ici et là, un mode avoué de la connaissance. Reprendre sans répit ce que depuis toujours vous avez dit. Consentir a l’élan infinitésimal, à l’ajout, inaperçu peut-être, qui dans votre savoir s’obstinent.

Le difficile est que l’entassement de ces lieux communs n’échoue pas en un bougonnement sans nerf – l’art y pourvoie ! Le probable : que vous alliez à fond de toutes confluences, pour démarquer vos inspirations.

Repetitions

This flood of convergences, publishing itself in the guise of the commonplace. No longer is the latter an accepted generality, suitable and dull – no longer is it deceptively obvious exploiting common sense – it is, rather, all that is relentlessly and endlessly reiterated by these encounters. On every side the idea is being relayed. When you awaken an observation, a certainty, a hope, they are already struggling somewhere, elsewhere, in another form.

Repetition, moreover, in an acknowledged form of consciousness both here and elsewhere. Relentlessly resuming something you have already said. Consenting to an infinitesimal momentum, an addition perhaps unnoticed that stubbornly persists in your knowledge.

The difficulty: to keep this growing pile of common places from ending up as dispirited grumbling – may art provide! The probability: that you come to the bottom of all confluences to mark more strongly your inspirations.

Généralisations

Reconnaitre, imaginer, la Relation.
Entreprise encore, et combien déguisée, de généralisation universalisante ?
Fuite, en avant des problèmes ?
Nul imaginaire n’aide réellement à prévenir la misère, à s’opposer aux oppressions, à soutenir ceux qui « supportent » dans leur corps ou dans leur esprit. Mais l’imaginaire modifie les mentalités, si lentement qu’il en aille.

De quelque endroit ou l’on se trouve, et quelle que soit la force d’errance, on entend monter le désir de « donner avec », de surprendre l’ordre dans le chaos ou au moins d’en deviner l’improbable motivation : de développer cette théorie qui échapperait aux généralisations.

La poétique ? Précisément cette double portée, d’une théorie qui tache à conclure, d’une présence qui ne conclut (ne présume) de rien. Non point l’une sans l’autre. C’est par là que l’instant et la durée nous confortent.
Toute poétique est un palliatif d’éternité.

Edouard Glissant. Poétique de la Relation. Paris : Gallimard 1990

Generalization

Recognizing, imagining, Relation.
Yet another undertaking, thoroughly disguised, of universalizing generalization?
Escape, the problems at our heels?
No imagination helps avert destitution in reality, none can oppose oppressions or sustain those who “withstand” in body or spirit. But imagination changes mentalities, however slowly it may go about this.

No matter where one is, no matter how strong the force of errantry, one can hear the mounting desire to “give-on-and-with”, to discover order in chaos or at least to guess its unlikely motivation: to develop this theory that would escape generalizations.

Poetics? Precisely this double thrust, being a theory that tries to conclude, a presence that concludes (presumes) nothing. Never one without the other. That is how the instant and duration comfort us.
Every poetics is a palliative for eternity.

Edouard Glissant. Poetics of Relation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press 1997

# Building Landscapes by Lebbeus Woods

Lebbeus Woods released a new article on his blog entitled "Building Landscapes" featuring works of Thom Mayne, Peter Eisenman, Robert Smithson and some of his beautiful drawings for the Korean DMZ.

# The Oblique Function by Claude Parent and Paul Virilio

Sometimes I like to revisit the classics ! The Oblique Function was first developed in the 60's by Architecture Principe (Claude Parent & Paul Virilio) and since then is still the main element of Parent's architecture (see previous article).
The idea was to tilt the ground in order to revolutionize the old paradigm of the vertical wall. In fact, being inclined, the wall becomes experiencable and so are the cities imagined by the two French architects. The oblique is fundamentally interested in how a body physically experience a space. The slope implies an effort to climb up and a speed to climb down; this way the body cannot abstract itself from the space and feel the degrees of inclination.
Parent and Virilio associated this research with their bunker archeology (see previous article) in order to design the Church Sainte Bernadette in Nevers (France) that I should probably include in a near future article...
Claude Parent demonstrated the quality of the oblique for the French Pavilion at the 1970 Venice Biennale as I already wrote in a former article.

# A Walk Through H by Peter Greenaway

A Walk Through H is a 40 minutes long movie created by Peter Greenaway in 1978. This film is a magnificent journey described only by the vocal narration (and a powerful music) and a series of 92 maps/painting hang on a wall of an art gallery. It is an ode to the map as a mean of representation of space, far away from the objectivity current maps are pretending to reach.
The movie also depicts the narrator's fetishism for those maps that he finds or steals in order to end his journey. The maps themselves when approaching the end of the series acquire more and more subjectivity and therefore more and more uncertainty about the path they are actually showing.

The whole vocal narration can be read by following this link.

WATCH THE MOVIE

# Last Year in Marienbad by Alain Resnais & Alain Robbe-Grillet

L’Année dernière à Marienbad (Last Year in Marienbad) is a 1961 film written by the Nouveau Roman author Alain Robbe-Grillet and directed by Alain Resnais. This movie is elaborated as a narrative labyrinth activated by a very dramatic and repetitive way of filming the disturbing baroque setting that close itself on the spectator.