Some Notes

This post addresses some comments Andrew left a few days ago, his actual comments are a few posts down if you want to see them.

Site - out

Centralia - One trick pony, potential is far more technical rather than political. Not enough visitors to work towards goal of educating the public. Monument Valley – too far away. too technical. gut feeling - not interested enough. New Orleans – too far away. Lots of potential for all my criteria, but just not interested. New York – could be a great project, but not entirely my own. It would be a compromise. I don’t want to enter a new WTC competition 6 years after the fact.

Site - in

Washington – monumental city, seat of political power, perfect site for political statement, tourists from all over the world continually visit. Gettysburg – monumental town. Tourists from all over the country visit, very common for locals to enjoy the site. Not currently political, historically political. The surrounding context is typical of any small American town, a population which is losing sight/unaware of sustainable practices

Monument/Sustaining

Case studies –

Eisenman in Berlin – highly experiential memorial. Speaks volumes through simplicity rather than grandiosity. Political statement.
Vietnam Memorial – antimonument. Highly experiential.
Reichstag – monumental intervention on a sullied political mass. Signifies new direction architecturally and experientially (users stand above/monitor parliament).
Astronaut’s Memorial – memorializes astronauts lost in duty. Expensive technical aspects that have failed and are too costly to maintain.
Pearl River Tower – wind powered high rise.
CCTV – most iconic of many iconic Chinese buildings symbolizing their growing power and industry.
Eiffel Tower, Space Needle, etc. – monumental structures which declare/project progress.
Pennsylvania Monument, Gettysburg – classical monument with little emotion.
Monolith, 2001: Space Odyssey – fictionally greatest monument of all time, marked the beginning of human evolution.
Despotic Monuments – Stalin, Hussein, etc. oppressive and extremely powerful only as long as the leader is still in power.

My interest lies in monuments that speak volumes with simplicity. This is the new direction of monument. Classical monument such as the PA monument is so ornamental as to dilute its focus and power.

Un-monumental is memorializing a unique event with a common artifact or strategy.

Theory & Politics

Andrew pointed out Lebbeus Woods’ quote “architecture is a political act… an act of war.” If our government went with the trend (war on… drugs, terrorism) and turned going green into the “war on waste,” maybe my structure would be an act of war. I think of it more as an act of action signifying the governments devotion and involvement in sustainability. Political statement? We’re going to do whatever we can to sustain our quality of life and the lives of those to come.

Cultural Traction

It should hold up as long as the political statement is a positive one for the public. A monument that can cut costs through sustainable tactics and supplement its own energy should be viewed positively. Tourism always generates revenue. The scale of the monument will be appropriate to setting and useful to any that want to experience it. The finished structure will warrant curiosity and encourage users to visit.

Definition

My working definition for sustainability – practices which allow us to maintain or improve our quality of life with minimal negative impact on our cultural and physical environment.