The era of technology… or the death of architecture
In that unbearable, unorganized, but dramatically beautiful city, that is Venice, a libertine spirit hovers in the squares and aisles! People feel freedom before the claustrophobia takes over. Parties, fancy dresses, some showing off, inaudible speeches, unreachable drinks, inaccessible pavilions…
What is clear to me after this Biennale, is just one aspect! The end of architecture!
The Central Pavilion, showing the elements of architecture, is so redundant and overwhelming, that distributes an apparently acritical content, which is, in reality, the most critical of all. It says: “we are done!” Technology, comfort, security, engineering, sustainability, all these topics are taking over. Architecture is a discipline that has always struggled in defining itself, probably as much as philosophy did in the past; nowadays, architecture is obliterated by an infinite array of technical subjects. Nowadays, we are living in the time of “plasterboard architecture!”
So, what all those people in Venice were really doing?! Are they conscious of how much endangered is such a discipline and profession?! Architecture is no longer a relevant social matter anymore; governments are not participatory as in the 60s.
600 years ago, families such as the Medici were using architecture and art to express their power. Once more, right now, architecture is becoming the play tool of few rich people, since all the rest that concerns buildings and city planning is a mere technical issue.
This is what happens when the curve of modernity starts to go downward.
…yes, I have been quite cynical!
Einsenman on Rem’s Biennale!
http://www.dezeen.com/2014/06/09/rem-koolhaas-at-the-end-of-career-says-peter-eisenman/
I guess, it’s the feeling of someone living and working in Rotterdam!