So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright (but what would Frank Lloyd Wright say?)

Another music post immediately after the first one - I am listening to music and have nothing else to do (make that nothing else I *want* to do) right now so this is what happens.

Songs about architects (of which I can think of only two at the moment) are particularly evocative for me, but I'm not sure exactly why. I appreciate great architecture and design but it's not something I spend time thinking about in great depth. It is a subconscious thing, though - I do notice myself regarding such things as architecture and civil engineering design quite frequently.

I'm not necessarily even interested in knowing that much about it; I don't keep track of things like who designed which buildings or what the main design philosophies are, and I'm not that interested to know about specific architects. Frank Lloyd Wright designed several buildings in the Buffalo area, but I was never inclined to go out of my way to see them while I lived there (which is not to say that I wouldn't like to some time - I would certainly be interested.)

The essence of architecture is not those things. It's what the building says visually, and also of course how it functions (I sometimes appreciate useless architecture - which is basically just sculpture - but I am much more impressed with architecture that is both visually appealing and completely functional). I want to see buildings that look cool and are evocative of a variety of things appropriate to the context. Like this:



Buffalo's City Hall looks plain awesome, and makes one envision the grand metropolis Buffalo once was (which is depressing, knowing it is nothing like it used to be) and also exudes a feeling of power, appropriate for a government building (or not appropriate depending on your views ;) ). There's actually a lot of great architecture in downtown Buffalo, though there isn't much there besides that.

Of course one can't help but notice the similarity to Los Angeles city hall:



Interestingly, both were completed in 1931, and both would make my list of favorite buildings (though the Buffalo one is clearly superior - and not just because that's where I'm from, just look at it!) Basically, Art Deco is my favorite style by far.

There is some great architecture at the University of Rochester (not to mention downtown Rochester itself), particularly Rush Rhees Library:

(this is the only one of these photos that's mine)

But there are mistakes at Rochester, too (as there is everywhere), like the sorta-impressive I.M. Pei-designed Wilson Commons. I say it's sorta impressive, but I don't consider it a great building. It's greatly lacking in practicality, and visually is a bit of a mess besides the certainly impressive glass walls and ceiling:



I do like those curved pipes, though.

Anyway - the problem is that modern design, while great for modern things, doesn't really work for buildings. Can you think of any truly great buildings (not just interesting ones) that were built recently? I can't, and the ones that would top my list were probably all built prior to 1960 or so at the latest (though I would include the Sears Tower, from 1973). I realize sensibilities have changed and a lot of the design extravagance of the first half of the 20th century (which is central to the Art Deco style) may never return, but can't we try to bring it back a little bit? Most like it and are impressed by it, so why do modern designers completely avoid it?

It's the same with other things, like cars - there is not a single car from the past couple of decades that I would desire because of its looks, yet any random car - not just the fancy ones - from the 1950's looks awesome. There was good design in cars at least up until the 1970's and 80's, where we saw such awesome looking cars as the Lancia Stratos (which I admittedly only know because of The Spy Who Loved Me and Project Gotham Racing) and the Delorean.

Lancia Stratos - Michael Ward Photos, used without permission (click to see his flickr photos)


By the way, the two songs I know about architects are So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright by Simon & Garfunkel on the album Bridge Over Troubled Water, and Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect by The Decemberists on the album Castaways and Cutouts. Edit: also, "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!" by Sufjan Stevens on "Illinoise" - also (probably not that coincidentally - he's probably the most well known architect around) involving Frank Lloyd Wright.