File puptcrit/puptcrit.1002, message 393


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
>>
>
>
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