Monday, December 05, 2005

People Talking About Architecture - 12.05.2005

This is the start of Jury Week for a ton of schools. However there is one professional event today...

New York:
Jayne Merkel : Jayne Merkel on Eero Saarinen
6:30 PM - The Center for Architecture (536 LaGuardia Place)
Jayne Merkel will talk about his new book Eero Saarinen. This site mentions how Merkel will outline the life and career of the architect best known for the St. Louis Arch and the CBS/Black Rock building in Manhattan. [More info.]

Final Jury - Yale School of Architecture
Monday, November 05 through Friday, December 10
11:00 AM to 6:00 PM - 4th & 6th Floors
Information: 203.432.2288

Final Jury - Columbia GSAPP
Monday, November 05 through Friday, December 10
12:00 PM to 6:00 PM - Avery Hall
Information: 212.854.3414

1 Comments:

Blogger James P. Farrell said...

Merkel's study of Eero Saarinen is authoritative while making some important normative points about the obligation of architects to honor their clients' objectives.

She describes his studio's method:

1. Definition of the "functional program" with considerable research
2. "Expression of the program" in the concept
3. Selection of appropriate "structure"
4. "Design"

The client was involved in each phase, participating in the research to define and prioritize requirements, reviewing architectural concepts for resolving their specific conflicts and approving structural approaches, materials and budgets prior to beginning detailed design.

"His were unusual, ambitious, challenging buildings. The variety in the work, the "style for the job" philosophy, as it was called, was really the result of the way he worked and the fact he believed architectural form should derive from function in the broadest possible sense."


He was singularly collaborative in his approach, using the resources of his clients, among them "the technical innovators of his period (General Motors, MIT, IBM, Bell Labs)" to automate design, adapt new materials, and refine his craft.

"Eero could meet each client on his own terms. He respected his clients and what they wanted to do (something that many architects with their own objectives fail to do) because, though he believed architecture should aspire to be art, he saw it as one grounded in use."

For more on the fundamental difference of his approach from that of such stylists as Frank Lloyd Wright.
A Management Consultant @ Large: Best Practices in Architecture

10:16 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home