At the very least, join the newsletter.
Anyway, I am finally starting to post after about 3 years. I came back out of relative obscurity and isolation. I am no longer a hermit, so to speak.
Welcome back to my blog, dear readers. There are many things to say....
Well, the subject of this blog is the Zeitgeist Movement. Peter Joseph is the ZG creator.
The films are very insightful.
Good news.
People are beginning to riot.
I believe this could be the start of a worldwide movement.
Americans...what are you doing? Wake the fuck up.
Haven't you got a clue? We can't go on like this.
400 of the richest Americans have as much money as 150 million Americans.
four hundred. What are we going to do about this? They are just going to keep taking our money
so that more rich people can become super rich.
Soon enough, most of us will be barely scraping by in misery and extreme depression.
Then they will be claiming that United States is having a recession.
Oh wait, they already did.
HELLO ARCHITECTURE WORLD. HELLO MY READERS. HELLO MR. SALOOJEE.
I am going to critique a couple presentations which I happened to observe during the final part of my semester in
ARCHitecture 1701. YES, I HAPPENED TO OBSERVE AROUND 10 PRESENTATIONS DURING MY TIME IN ARCH 1701.
THE MOST MEMORABLE OF WHICH WAS AN HONORS PRESENTATION ON SIERRA LEONE AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN SIERRA LEONE IN PARTICULAR.
MY CRITIQUE #1: EDUCATION IN SIERRA LEONE PRESENTATION
This presentation was overall very impressive to me. Before I praise the presentation too much, let it be known that
I am interested in Sierra Leone and West Africa in general. I plan on visiting Sierra Leone, Ghana, Cote D'Ivoire, and
Senegal. I have a beloved ex-girlfriend who is herself Sierra-Leonian. So, before the presentation, I probably knew
most of what the students had to say, just because I learned quite alot from all of my conversations/arguments with
Ms. Kadiatu Khan.
WHY THIS PRESENTATION WAS EFFECTIVE: 1) Its thorough attempt to solve the issues of education in S.L.
2) Its accurate portrayal of rural/small village life in S.L. and the schoolhouses with pictures and text.
3) its straightforward presentation of a)the problem and b)the ways people are trying to solve it and their way of solving it
I AM NOW GOING TO FURTHER ELABORATE.
1) I believe the presenters did a nice job of attempting to solve the issue of poor education in Sierra Leone villages.
They proposed a plan to use each village hut for a schoolhouse.
2) I believe the presenters did a good job of portraying the dismal aspects of life in Sierra Leone. They showed a
photo of a man with his hands missing, showing the stubs of his forearms. This elaborated the sad truths of rebel forces in S.L. and their practice of dismembering hands and even feet from those who steal or refuse to join the rebel forces. Poverty and hunger were shown - that is, they described the undernourishment problem as well as
portraying it in photos of starving children (which aren't really hard to find)
3) Overall this presentation did a nice job of portraying the problems in Sierra Leone, which were correct, to my
knowledge. It also provided sources for people to further educate themselves about the country and the region which included websites and a movie (Blood Diamond)
MY CRITIQUE # 2: HUNGER IN SOMALIA
THIS PRESENTATION HAD ITS UPS AND DOWNS.
ABUSE AND WOMEN 'OUT OF PLACE:' How Women Have Responded to Problems of Domestic Violence
THAT WAS COVER TITLE # 1
This is the end of everything we know. This is my seventh blog. "On the seventh day He rested."
Therefore this is the Sabbath Blog.
Documenting life and death (although mostly life) is the purpose of this blog. Right now we are in the process of obtaining our college diplomas (Bachelor's Degree to be exact) and whilst we are at it, living our blessed lives.
This can mean alot of things - different things for different people - although for yours truly it means a class that he isn't particularly enjoying at this moment. The class which your truly is not particularly enjoying is Architecture 1701. However, it is his duty to fullfill the required coursework to pass this course, and furthermore, to do so in a timely manner, in order to recieve an 'A.'
SECTION ONE: THE QUESTION
To begin, this blog is merely a tool to aid me in the presentation of my paper which happens to be about women in the United States of America. Yes indeed, this blog is a tool which aid my paper. My paper happens to be about feminism in the United States of America. This blog which is a tool to aid my paper is about domestic abuse in the United States of America. You are probably thinking: What?! Why is his blog about three separate things? Well, there is only one viable answer for that. The answer for that is this: My blog happens to be
about all of those things at once. How, you may wonder, is this person's blog about three things at once? How on earth can this sly young man combine all three things into one fantastic final project???????
That is to be announced, my disciples. That is to be announced at an undetermined date in time. Therefore, this blog is simply a tool in aiding the construction of the paper which I am about to write. Oh yes, I imagine I have forgotten to answer your question. Well, I have forgotten to answer the question which I posed FOR you. Anyhow, I am going to combine women, feminism, and domestic abuse in the following way: My paper is going to deal with domestic abuse in the United States and at the same time it is going to address women who are domestically abused. With those two things already being analyzed, it is then going to take feminism, the key point of this project, and inculcate both domestic abuse and women in the United States in the battle for feminism.
How on Earth is this sly and cunning young beast going to do all of these wonderful things? I will tell you how this young cunning beast is going to do these things. He will write his paper in the following way:
SECTION TWO: THE METHOD OF MAKING SECTIONS
Well, ladies and gents, it's Mr. Blogwriter going at it again in his own sly cunning way. He is now going to attempt to divide his potential paper into separate parts. By doing this, he will be able to further understand just how he is going to tackle the issue of writing a paper for Architecture class which is not even remotely connected to the actual practice or learning of Architecture itself.
So, anyway, there are three sections in my individual part of the project. Remember, I say this because my project is the collaboration of three people in my group. Ok. SECTION ONE is going to be about actual documented domestic abuse cases and levels throughout a recent historical time period. of the U.S. From here I will describe the problem of domestic abuse to women in the United States.
SECTION TWO is going to be about the impact this has on American women as a collective group. How does violence among relationships and even violence among male strangers cause a rise of fear in American society? Finally, SECTION THREE is going to be about feminists who speak out against this kind of thing and feminist authors who have written about it and challenged the male dominance in society. It will address governmental changes and even changes in state laws due to the women who have spoken out about violence directed toward themselves.
THIS PROJECT WOULD BE CALLED ABUSE AND WOMEN OUT OF PLACE
Another way I would write my paper is a bit differently. I would write a paper telling a history of domestic and various abuse against women be it a boyfriend or husband hitting or even a stranger assaulting or raping.
This paper would flow from events to societal reactions to local, state, or national changes in law or policy.
IT would be addressing the issue of domestic abuse and also the reaction among American females - including
authors, artists and activists.
ABUSE AND WOMEN 'OUT OF PLACE:' How Women Have Responded to Problems of Domestic Violence
This is a painting by Alice Neel, entitled Priscilla Johnson, from 1966.
THAT WAS COVER TITLE # 2
I believe that this particular painting just shows a young woman. It shows a vulnerable young women and
certain paintings and images portray a lot more in the fight for feminism than the artists may have thought. Anyway,
there are many American female poets as well who have written important things.
ABUSE AND WOMEN 'OUT OF PLACE:' How Women Have Responded to Problems of Domestic Violence
sisters mothers cousins girlfriends
aunties lovers grandmothers daughters
we honor yo bad wimmins selves
we pour libation to you
sisters mothers cousins girlfriends
aunties lovers grandmothers daughters
you who sing the original break(out) songs: steal away/steal away/
steal away/cuz we aint got long to stay here
you who wont bow down to no father or husband or lover or boss
or government
you who are the womanlover or the manlover
you who waylay rapists and child abusers and absentee landlords
in the alleyways and on the rooftops
you who resist the dopedealer and outslick the pimp
you who keep mr executives hands in their place
you who plan and carry out the work slowdown and the strike
you who outmaneuver the overseer in the fields under the hot sun
or in the factory on the airconditioned assemblyline
you who break up all madames fine china and sprinkle rust on her
imported linens
you who mix dried blood and powdered glass into mastas quiche&
salad
you who raise children to love themselves and create solutions
you who dream and plan and work with us for the future
THAT WAS COVER TITLE # 3
That was also a poem called "21st century black warrior wimmins chant for strengthening the nerves and getting yourself together" by HATTIE GOSSETT
THIS IS A POEM BY DIANA DI PRIMA, A BEAT POET AND WRITER. I think this poem says alot about how women
are overlooked and not taken seriously as human beings - how they are looked at as prizes.
It says alot about the strange, scary motives behind American society. Women are not taken as seriously as men.
We are in the middle of a bloody, heartrending
revolution Called America, called the Protestant
reformation, called
Western man,
Called individual consciousness, meaning I need a
refrigerator and a car
And milk and meat for the kids so I can discover
that I don't need a car
Or a refrigerator, or meat, or even milk, just rice
and a place with no wind to sleep next to someone
Two someones keeping warm in the winter
learning to weave To pot and to putter, learning to
steal honey from bees,
wearing the bedclothes by day, sleeping under (or
in) them at night; hoarding bits of glass, colored
stones,
and stringing beads
How long before we come to that blessed
definable state known as buddhahood, primitive
man, people in a landscape together like trees, the
second childhood of man
I don't know if I will make it somehow nearer by
saying all this out loud, for christs sake, that
Stevenson was killed, that
Shastri was killed
both having dined with Marietta Tree the wife of a
higher-up in the CIA
both out of their own countries mysteriously dead,
as how many others
And finally we come the conclusion. The end of this blog. It had to come somwhere, right? Allright so
in conclusion this blog is going to be extremely helpful in aiding me with my term project. That is, when I take the
time to create my term project I will be able to divide it into sections alot easier. Once I can find the appropriate information, it's a simple matter of placing the information in the appropriate sections, whether it is
Section One: the actual documented abuse cases and levels throughout a certain time period,
Section Two: The impact abuse and violence has on the collective American women, and
Section Three: Feminists who speak out about these problems and feminists who have written about it and
challenged male dominance. After I can place the appropriate facts and opinions in the appropriate sections,
it's only a matter of good transition and chronological order.
THAT CONCLUDES MY BLOG
YOU CAN STOP READING IF YOU LIKE.
NO, REALLY, THERE'S NOTHING ELSE TO READ. PLEASE DO NOT CONTINUE READING.
I MIGHT BE FORCED TO RELEASE THE GIANT MANITEES
GROWING UP; MY IMMEDIATE ENVIRONMENT
I SPENT MY EARLY LIFE IN A SMALL RENTED HOUSE IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
I SPENT MY GRADE SCHOOL YEARS IN A DIVERSE APARTMENT COMPLEX IN ST. PAUL
I SPENT MY MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOL YEARS IN A NEIGHBORHOOD THAT LOOKED ALOT LIKE THIS
AND I HAVE LIVED IN THE SUBURBS FOR THE LAST 2 &1/2 YRS
They say we are all shaped by our environment. They say we are molded by where we have grown up.
I don't agree.
In fact, I strongly disagree with this statement. Do you really believe that you are molded by your
environment? If you believe this, you are falling victim to your environment. We form our own personalities,
regardless of where the hell we live our lives. What do you choose to do with your time?
How do you respond to your environment? How do you form your own personality?
HAVE YOU FORMED YOUR OWN PERSONALITY YET???
Alot of people our age haven't formed a personality/developed a character.
I haven't formed a truly distinct personality yet. How many people do YOU know that really
stand up for what they believe in even in awkward, unpopular moments? I think most people
just keep their mouths shut in those situations. Most people I know, when stuck in a social
situation where they disagree with what someone is doing, will just remain quiet and passive.
The reason I don't agree with the idea that one's environment shapes one's character is this:
I've met many people from many different places in my time. I'm going to narrow my range to
people from the U.S. I've met people from Big cities, country towns, small cities, suburbs,
far north, east coast, west coast and I just can't differentiate these people. Okay, okay,
so people from Wisconsin like to party. People from the suburbs are rich. People from the
Twin Cities are friendly. People from California are stylish. But those are lousy stereotypes.
That aint personality.
THERE ARE SOME ASPECTS OF THE BUILD ENVIRON THAT INSPIRED ME
The Built Environment
Prepare yourselves for an amazing display that you will never forget. If these images don't give you a sense
of aesthetic inspiration, then maybe you shouldn't be in architecture. (or maybe you want to become a mathematical
architect, or a business architect)
These photos were found outside of google images - something I'm pretty proud of - anyway, these images are
a succession of buildings I have had the chance and beautiful privilege to see for myself. I know you're thinking I'm
a little bit of a nerd when it comes to architecture, and, yes, I would agree. That's because I delight in the sense of
awe I get when viewing these creations and I would rather stick my foot in a bucket of sizzling acid than apologize for being amazed by these buildings.
So enjoy these pics and don't applaud unless you really have to. Hail to the people who helped erect these
buildings. Some of these buildings might not be well-known, in fact, some of these AREN'T well known and I
PROMISE you that you won't have seen or heard of some of these buildings. These buildings have effected me
in a way that I can't understand or explain. They haven't shaped my personality. They have helped me look at
life in a different way, but after all that's happened to me (and hasn't happened to me) I don't think these particular buildings have given me a different outlook on the jolly and miserable old world around us.
FORT SHERIDAN U.S. ARMY POST RECENTLY CONVERTED TO HOUSING - NORTH OF CHICAGO, IL
SCULPTURE GARDEN - ST. PAUL, MN
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO CHAPEL
BAY BRIDGE - OAKLAND 2 SAN FRAN., CALIFORNIA --- (yes I like this one better than the Golden Gate)
DUSSELDORF, GERMANY FROM THE RHINE RIVER
CHARLEMAGNE'S CATHEDRAL -- AACHEN, GERMANY
To conclude this blog, I still believe that we are who we are through our own choices and our own actions.
Architecture should NOT impose upon who we are. However, unfortunately life is not this simple. Houses we grow up in, neighborhoods we grow up in, cities we grow up in, towns we grow up in all shape part of our
attitude on life, whether I want to accept it or not. We are forced to compromise and adapt our wishes and desires
to accommodate the people and places surrounding us. If you grew up in Northern Minnesota, chances are you
have different viewpoints and traits than someone from Los Angeles. For example, you may be accustomed to living life at a slower pace than someone from urban L.A., who is accustomed to doing things much
more quickly and rapidly. You may appreciate peace and quiet as a place to read and study while the other
person may appreciate places with more life and noise.
Some things are unavoidable. Architecture that stands out of its surroundings can influence you in a
different way, by conflicting with your image of things -- a message which refutes your instilled image
of your environment - causing you to think outside of your regular realm - if only for the short time you are
in or around that work of architecture. Thus it is these pieces of architecture that I pick up on and remember
for a long time after I see them - for they have left a lasting, positive impression on my thoughts.
The following are other images that have impacted my view of life, architecture and the way things should be.
James Jay Hill House (J.J. Hill House) St. Paul, MN
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If...If my life wasn't consumed by college and work, I would be chilling in a pad somewhere in Illinois right now, seeing as how that's where my family lives. Most likely I would be living in or near Chicago, seeing as how that's where most of the architecture goes down in Illinois and the Midwest in general. To be quite honest, I really haven't any idea what I would be doing in terms of architecture, since this school IS the reason I'm studying architecture moreso than architecture is the reason I'm going to this school. In other words, if I didn't go here, I probably wouldn't be too interested in architecture itself.
Studying architecture seems to be all but impossible outside of a University. There really aren't too many options as far as working as an apprentice goes. Ideal-like, head-in-the-clouds/dreamlike consciousness state of mind says I would be studying architecture constantly, on my own time, in my own space, until I had mastered many successful concepts.
(this is somewhat of a joke) Please don't take this seriously...have fun with it...
MANY SUCCESSFUL CONCEPTS (That I Would Study and Master)
Drafting
Taking Measurements
Making Calculations
Memorized Architectural Periods/Styles: Ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Byzantine, Mideival, Japanese, Gothic, Traditional Hindu, Renaissance, Industrial, Catholic, Baroque, PostModern,
And others...
Frank Lloyd Wright never went to college, and that's all I have to say to people who will question me.
STEP #1: Hunt down a gifted/skilled architect to work with
STEP #2: Warily and nonchalantly chase and follow him/her whereever he goes
STEP #3: Plan out my conversation with him and decide how I can flatter him/her (in a nonsexual way)
STEP #4: After days of practice, approach him/her and introduce myself as a young, budding architect interested
in the ways of the 'creator of buildings' samurai.
STEP #5: Invite out for dinner (a formal dinner involving as much wine consumption as possible on the architect's side of the table)
STEP #6: Talk about LeCorbusier or Van der Rohe(or whomever this architect has a soft spot for)
STEP #7: Turn the conversation to architecture in universities and shamelessly put it down
STEP: #8 Talk about the dying trend of apprenticeship and what a shame it is for it's not being popular anymore
STEP #9: Hold off until the next meeting: Ask architect if I could learn a few things from him/her.
STEP #10: LEARN FROM HIM/HER AND EVENTUALLY GO ON TO MAKE FANTASTIC WORKS OF AR(CHITECTURE)T
THAT HAPPEN TO BE CORBUSIESQUE AND KAHNESQUE
--- YES, THIS BUILDING WAS CREATED/ERECTED BY LOUIS KAHN.
The beauty of arcitecture is that it is there for EVERONE. Everybody can experience this, everybody is FORCED to experience the effects of architecture. We take the buildings and designed structures around us for granted - we don't give our minds and bodies a chance to consciously experience this. By "consciously experiencing this," I mean REALIZE what sense these buildings/structures inspires within us.
What sense of awe does a giant, impersonal building such as Northrop create for us?
What sense of fear does a small, cramped concrete building such as Pioneer Hall create for us?
What sense of spiritual emptiness and false hope does a suburban shopping mall create within us?
What sense of comfort does our iving room instill in us with its cozy couch (or in my case, comfy suitcases) create for us?
What sense of wonder and intellectual hunger does a well-designed museum (such as the Minneapolis or Chicago Institute of Art create within our minds and spirits?
Do not even attempt to answer those questions. Those are mostly rhetorical. Ask yourself other questions
until you begin to understand that these buildings and settings change the way we feel and EVEN INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE FROM INTERIOR (a sense of awe)
"GURNEE MILLS" GIANT SUBURBAN MALL (Gurnee, Illinois) (a sense of spiritual emptines and false hope)
PART OF TEMPLE OF ZEUS AND ATHENA @ BERLIN'S MUSEUM ISLAND (a sense of wonder)
The above is a historical relic from Rome, Italy, aging from the Roman Empire, now resting in Berlin Germany. It is in the well-known part of Berlin: Museum Island. Museums, such as this historical one, are supposed to evoke a sense of wonder within the observer. Other museums, more specific the art museums, can go both ways. There are some well-planned art museums that give of a sense of intellectual hunger and there are some that fail to do so. For example, Le Louvre in Paris, as big and magnificent as it is, isn't planned too successfully in my opinion...it is great from the outside...it is an unforgettable beauty, but from the inside, there are certain things it lacks. For instance, it does not succeed to make up for the sheer endlessness of its exhibitions, and this can create sleepiness in the visitors.
Now it's time to answer the question. I'd be working on alot of things if I didn't go to college. Alot of things implies
a)playing music with Erik and starting a band, b)cooking c)reading about architects that I like (including Mies van der Rohe, Fumihiko Maki, LeCorbu, Frank Gehry, Aldo Rossi, and even assorted others. And c)contemplating on moving in with my friend Andrew in San Diego or my friend Alex in Moraga. Those are the main things I would be working on in my spare time, with several/oh too many distractions slowing me down. All my life I have been attempting to evade those distractions and I'm getting a little better, small bit by small bit, slowly and painfully but surely.
SONG
Did you listen to the wind, did you gaze around you as
you wandered?
did you enjoy lonely times, did you have your love affairs,
as you stayed?
Will your spirit stay with you, will your mind remain in place
or will they stray?
Did you sit upon a hill, whilst your cat was ripping your belongings
Whilst your parents were worlds away, 'neath the purple sun
As the people kicked and shouted, as the Spring grass grinned with green
Did you live easily and wildly
When will you come and grin again?
Without chagrin you must ammend
Do what you were born for.
That was a special poem I wrote as I thought of last Spring - one of the best times of my life.
Last spring was a spiritual as well as physical and mental experience for me that left a mark on me
as a person. What does this little rhyme mean to YOU? It's INSTRUCTING you to BE yourself UNRELENTINGLY
It's not telling you to 'be yourself,' it's telling you to 'live easily and wildly,' to be yourself without apologies.
Life, Architecture, and College is about this great spirit you have that didn't have to let itself out at home, around your family. It's about your personality and your originality, its about showing your true colors.
You are forced to live on your own, with nobody there to encourage you, hug you, tell you they'll get it for you,
nobody there too call you down fo dinner. You are forced to Break Out of your bed of comfort and go out there,
live, do your own thing, and DO IT WITH STYLE AND MEANING. That's all
Option 3: Promote gender equality & empower women
CAT POWER -- LIVING PROOF
Download file
"It's not your face
Or the color of your hair
Or the sound of your voice my dear
That's got me dragged in here
You're supposed to have an answer
You're supposed to have living proof
Well do you have your answer
Do you have your answer
Well i am your answer i am living"
-- Chan Marshall
Here is a poem by a Lowell factory girl, an immigrant from Ireland. In the 19th century, when this was written,
women from the age of 12 were forced to work long hours - often 12 hours a day - in factories and live in female boarding houses.
Conditions were pretty miserable.
When I set out for Lowell,
Some factory for to find,
I left my native country
And all my friends behind.
But now I am in Lowell,
And summon’d by the bell,
I think less of the factory
Than of my native dell.
The factory bell begins to ring
And we must obey
And to our old employment go,
Or else be turned away.
Come all ye weary factory girls,
I’ll have you understand,
I’m going to leave the factory
And return to my native land.
"Womanhood is the great fact in her life; wifehood and motherhood are but incidental relations"
"Because man and woman are the complement of one another, we need woman's thought in national affairs to make a safe and stable government"
-- Elizabeth Cady Stanton
"The feminine mystique has succeeded in burying millions of American women alive."
"No woman gets an orgasm from shining the kitchen floor"
-- Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique
WOMEN IN THE 1950's
Women in the 1950's? Something that most of us are happy we don't have to be. The roles that women were expected to play in those post-WWII years is depressing even to think about. In Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique, she touches base on all of the issues women had in the 1970's.
I haven't personally read this book (YET), but my mom has and I know a fair amount....anyway...women in the '50's...Well, after WWII was over, the soldiers came home and women were relatively proud of their roles during WWII - nearly everyone in the U.S. was employed during Wartime, women thought they covered some ground from being able to work and also being involved in WWII (as nurses, and sometimes even soldiers).
Well, once the war was over and the men came home, this giant American movement known as White Flight occured in most American cities. Better explained, the white Americans moved away from the inner cities and into the tens of thousands of suburbs that exist today. Women began to take on a role expected of them, during tthe beginning of the fabled "baby-boomer" generation. Women were housewives, dishwashers, diaper-cleaners, shoe polishers, laundry-machines, cooks, and all those other little roles that the men didn't want to do. My father was born in 1962 and although he may not exactly qualify as a "baby-boomer" (thank god), his parents were very much the '50's couple. My grandfather, Gary Groce, does not cook a thing besides 'ham sammitches.' My grandmother, Jean, still owns many of the typical housewife dresses and gowns. Yes, the '50's was a sad time for women.
This video is from a '50's detergent commercial. The first 60 seconds is the commercial - the rest is a very comical but accurate commentary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtFARfOhZmc
"A majority of this country opposes this war, a majority of this country never voted for this administration. "
--- Michael Moore
"An Iraqi boy reacts after seeing his sister and both of his parents killed in the car, in Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005. Four Iraqi civilians were killed and two others were injured when U.S. soldiers opened fire after their convoy was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades in central Ramadi. The U.S. military had no immediate information about the incident. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein) January 05, 2005"
http://dusteye.wordpress.com/2007/02/20/thousands-of-homeless-children-in-iraq-survive-by-begging-stealing-or-scavenging-garbage-for-food/
NEIL YOUNG -- The RESTLESS CONSUMER -- from the album LIVING WITH WAR
Download file
MY BLOCK -- TUPAC SHAKUR -- from the album BETTER DAYZ
Download file
"Daily life is but a dream. Hard times is all we see. Every block is kinda mean. But on the block we still prayyyyy"
"Stayin strapped forever trapped in this black life."
What happens to a dream deferred? How about: What happens to a part of town deferred? Frogtown is
St. Paul's Harlem without the gentrification. Do you ever take the bus 16 downtown and happen to look out the window when you pass all those old townhouses that look out exalted over the street like ghosts, like souls stuck in limbo or purgatory? As the bus reaches Lexington and Dale near the police station getting off as I did when I lived in the city, farther along Dale just outside of the 'hood you notice the others on the bus giving you a questioning look of interest and you begin to feel your skin crawl a bit as you cross University and glance back at the Rondo Community Library, in Rondo, a separate yet identical neighborhood. If you have experience in places like this you can discourse around, make your way around the narrow streets, cross Charles or Lafond Ave. as you gaze at little Supras with Hmong guys cruising down the block, and peer to see a couple black guys swagger down the street past the subterranean nostalgic bar. You may even notice the dead gardens and dried up grass behind most houses, the chain fences, the barred windows, the sigh of despair. Frogtown is not your neighborhood, it was part of my town, a part I stayed away from until my late 'teens. St. Agnes Church has a steeple that raises out of town like a cry toward the sky. You can feel the desolate nature inside this cramped part of the city as you glance at the new Projects uphill from the horrible railroad tracks.
So the problem with Frogtown is the architects aren't interested in it.
The problem with the architects are they are told where to develop new housing and IT'S NOT HERE!!! You can almost hear the firms and important advisors saying "stay AWAY from THAT area!" God forbid something new and innovative happens IN St. Paul. Maybe out on the periphery, somewhere in White Bear Lake or Woodbury, sure, new shit is constantly being built, yes, CONSTANTLY. The housing dilemma in Frogtown and Rondo (just south of F-town) is that every house is 50-100 yrs old. Let's voyage to the far end of F-town....the Biff Adams Arena....the hockey rink I played at for 7 years. As you leave the hockey rink, you walk to your car, parked on Western Ave., and you see an entire block of BARRED WINDOWS, deteriorating townhomes, long abandoned, or even worse, still inhabited by a couple familes. You have gotten things stolen out of your car.
As you walk two blocks to the local bar, where the hockey team is meeting, you are introduced to the white side of F-town that no longer lives there. These people are living in nostalgia and drunkenness as they sit up eating tacos and smoking cigarettes. They are all parents of hockey players and now live in suburbs or other parts of town and you CAN'T blame them, because who wants to raise their kids HERE?
In order for architects to EVER, EVER do anything with places like Frogtown, and there places like this all over the United States, these architects will have to be paid. Who is going to pay them to work there? There is good money to be made with the real estate in Woodbury, Edina, and Maple Grove, but there is NO money to be made in Inner-City St. Paul or Northside Minneapolis. The reason, my friends and enemies, is precisely this: Who is moving into these places? People with very low incomes. YES, there are PLACES ALL AROUND the country JUST LIKE, nearly identical, to Frogtown.
Examples: Southside Philadelphia PA, Queens NY,
South Bronx NY, East St. Louis IL, Westside Chicago IL,
Washington Park IL, Waukegan IL, South Holland IL,
Compton Los Angeles and East Oakland CA,
Inner San Jose CA, Shaker-Heights/ Inner Cleveland OH,
Northside MPLS MN, Brooklyn Center MN, Mobile AL,
Inner Atlanta GA, Orange NJ, Newark NJ, Inner Pittsburg PA
The only reason Frogtown's dilemma is so worth looking into is because it is CONNECTED to ALL these other
places in the U.S. and there are countless more places in the exact same position as Frogtown when it comes to architects and real estate....yes....the reason so many people live in decaying neighborhoods ....
it all comes down to two phrases: architects and real estate
We all seem so content with the way things are. These dilemmas go unnoticed every day. They fly behind our head like crows scavenging for food that isn't there. We are bent on our own lives, we are focused on our sex-life
our workload, our appearance in public, and hundreds of other irrational fears and worries that fill our minds to the brim. As architects.........as architects..........as architects..........we need to stop and look around
We need to freeze momentarily and observe the world around us. It's invaluable to the practice of architecture
that REAL ARCHITECTS REAL ARCHITECTS REAL ARCHITECTS need to do this.....we need to realize what horrible dilemmas and misfortunes others are enduring every day and night, this unceasing tragedy that I have been describing all throughout this excerpt.
Energy is the essence of everything that is alive. Energy is in everybody and every living thing. Energy can be seen in architecture. architecture, in the 'Genius Loci' reading, is said to be the architect's way of erecting buildings for the purpose of embodying the community's perception of nature - to better connect the community with the energy of nature.
Andy Goldsworthy sees energy though the color red especially. He calls red "a feeling of a color and energy flowing through all things." He demonstrates the existence of energy by cutting his finger and watching his blood drop onto a rock. Next he smashes a red stone into a fluid form and watches the "violent" color flow down the stream as a brilliant force of energy moving through space and time.
The widely known and proven theory about energy is that it is neither created or destroyed. It remains constant and everchanging. In other words, energy is a force that brings everything to life, a force of creation that acts differently through different beings, and when it leaves, it brings death. One of the things the Scottish naturalist said about energy was "the very thing that brings something to life is the thing which will cause its death."
Energy, as I see it, is an unpredictable cycle that, as it continues to change, embodies itself in living things (humans, rivers, or birds, for example) and shows its face through all these living things. Energy is all of us. We would be nothing without this amazing force. Without it we would simply be entities, lilke files on a computer.
The way energy flows through the city is seen most clearly by the forms of transportation - be it public or private. In most North American cities the highway system and automobiles are like the veins of the city. In African cities it is primarily the bus or the automobile. In European and Asian cities the energy flows through by means of a subway and train system. The real question is: how is urban energy seen through architecture? The problem with architecture is that it doesn't change much. A building that truly changes with the outdoors is a building that reflects light in a different way depending on the weather. Energy flows from the outside to the building and is reflected back to the outside. Another type of building that truly embodies the energy of the city seems to come alive with the people. In Chicago, Grant and Millenium Parks are a great example of this. During the summer when these parks truly come alive, the architecture is used by the people. The bandstands are filled up and the wide open spaces soon fill up with people. The fountains spray water during the day and light up in the night-time. This is the type of architecture that embodies the energy within the people. Energy flows from the people to the structures and back to the people.
The city of St. Louis, Missouri is an example of a city that began as a major American railroad city, a bustling city that attracted French Heugonots, German fur-traders, and African-American slaves as well (who were not outlawed in the state of Missouri until after the Civil War. St. Louis itself used to have well over 600,000 people at its prime at the turn of the century hosting the 1904 World's Fair and even the Olympic Games. This great energy that founded St. Louis has long left the city. Today, the City of St. Louis has a mere 350,000, making it half the size of the Twin Cities. I was born in St. Louis. My grandfather worked in East St Louis most of his life. My father, growing up in Sauget, IL, just south of E. St. Louis, recalls "always wanting to get out of there." His experience is one of urban decay. The experience he went through was indeed an unfortunate one. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy his youth, it was just that he was in the middle of a Middle American crisis - the same thing that happened to cities like Pittsburg, Cleveland, and Detroit. Urban decay is alot worse than most people believe. When energy leaves the city, the first thing to go is employment. The second thing to go is money. The third, people. And the fourth and most dismal thing we part with is good architecture. If you ever decide to pay a visit to St. Louis, you will see an abundance of old, crumbling, brick rows and innate factories. You may see some art-deco spectacles downtown, but even those are way out of touch with the community and essense of this dying city. When energy left Andy Goldsworthy's icicle snake, it melted and fell apart. This is more or less what happened to the City of St. Louis.
"Tell me this are you prepared to live? The energy that we exchange is imperative. Intricate so simple. Life is the spirit and the body is the temple." - Hieroglyphics.
The way energy effects every one of us is crucial. It dictates our feelings and actions - one thing that many people misconcieve is that thoughts have relatively smaller impact on our movements and perception than the energy surrounding us. For example, imagine yourself walking to a party on a Saturday night. You are very stressed out because your company is laying people off next week, and you doubt you will be able to enjoy yourself or even let yourself go tonight. You have never been to this place, so you have no idea what to expect. Your mind is filled with jumbles of near paranoia. You finally arrive at the party, and as they let you in, you experience something unlike anything you were expecting. The room you are led to is a large living room with a purplle-colored blacklight illuminating faces as well as the many familiar faces of your best friends. They are all enjoying themselves to a very high rate. You find a seat next to your friend on a couch who was waving to you. He tells you to look up. You notice that the cieling is an average height near the walls, but as it approaches the center, it shoots up to form a magnificent arch and as it gets higher, the purple light gets brighter and brighter. There's a low beat slightly shaking the room and a slow reggae groove cuts the silence into a rich, trenchtown heartbeat. (I assure you there is no pot invloved). Some people are dancing, and others are just laughing - you know a pretty good percentage of these people. The wooden floors are clean and the big window overlooking the street is covered by a thick, green curtain which is turned into a deep, forest green by the lights' illuminations. You are soon lifted into a transcended state of mind, soothed by the deep groove and the pure relaxation of the environment you are in. You soon forget about working and realize how wonderful it is to have such a job at all. You are enhanced by the great energy surrounding you and the night goes on...This is how a truly great design can positively effect the people around it. Regardless of what you are already thinking, a brilliant design which fits the circumstances can really enhance everybody's mood.
Energy is here to stay, and how we pick it up and mold it into new things is simply the way we live as we can choose a truly beautiful way to mold the energy around us into something new and uplifting.