Date: Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:00:19 -0500 From: Hobey Ford <hobeyone-AT-gmail.com> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] puptcrit Digest, Vol 64, Issue 26 snob Phillip Johnson was a reknowned architect. I am not an architect, I know very little about it, I have superficial knowledge of it (I did design my home though), but for all practical purposes it is out of my range of knowledge. I did however attend SUNY Purchase which was a new campus in the early 70's. He was one of the architects. He and the others designed an angular brick clad futuristic campus with a vast brick mall circled by mostly windowless buildings. I managed to stay sane through a cold winter there on a campus whose architecture contributed to a depressing feeling among many of the students. The campus was featured that year in a futuristic movie called "The Norming of Jack". It was about a future civilization lacking in any humanistic qualities, where people were "normed" into numbered citizens without names or personalities. They picked the campus for its qualities or lack of them to shoot the movie. The student body gathered around TVs to watch the premier and after the movie there was a tangible feeling of depression in the room. What this "genius" created was a dehumanizing environment. I transferred. My decision in part based on the campus architecture. I am confident though in saying that his campus design was a failure in terms of regard for the people who would have to live there. I am very confident in my opinion having as I said no real knowledge of the field. I thought his ideas of design were self indulgent reflecting a lot of the art of the day which I have also come to regard as selfindulgent, intellectual and devoid of artistic skill or asthetics. Perhaps my reference to the architects quote as a "snobby" remark is based on my experience of Phillip Johnson inflicting his superior ideas on that campus. His opinion of a good campus design was no better than mine. I had to live in it. On Sat, Feb 27, 2010 at 12:26 PM, Hobey Ford <hobeyone-AT-gmail.com> wrote: > How so? > > > On Sat, Feb 27, 2010 at 11:46 AM, <NANCYSTAUB-AT-aol.com> wrote: > >> snob >> >> In a message dated 2/26/2010 11:00:13 A.M. Central Standard Time, >> puptcrit-request-AT-puptcrit.org writes: >> >> But I have to disagree >> with the architect who to me comes across as a snob, who doesn't think >> "the >> public" knows anything and could possibly have a valuable opinion. We >> are >> talking about art, not science. It is a subjective topic where everyone >> does have a valid opinion because in the end thats all anyone's opinion >> is...an opinion. >> I think the architect was not a snob, His comment simply suggests that >> opinions vary in credibility. All opinions are subjective as they are >> based >> on many factors: experience, knowledge, language, culture, personality, >> etc. >> This is true in science as well as art. Many scientific opinions have >> proven more credible than others. >> _______________________________________________ >> List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org >> Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit >> Archives: http://www.driftline.org >> > > _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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