It is difficult to write about Frank Gehry without first confronting the caricature. For decades, he was reduced to a gesture: the architect who crumples a piece of paper and hands it to his office to “figure it out.” It was an easy image. A seductive myth. It allowed critics to dismiss his work as... Read More
An architect friend of mine was visiting Istanbul last month and asked if it was easy to get a taxi from Taksim to Sancaklar Mosque. It is not. The mosque is almost 100 kilometers away, which means the taxi ride alone would cost a small fortune. Since I was also curious to see the building,... Read More
As I approach Louvre Abu Dhabi by foot, I notice three men in a small boat, right next to the bright white gallery volume that sits at the edge of the sea. They are wiping away the salt marks left where water meets concrete. It takes energy to live with great architecture. It takes care.... Read More
The Broad opened a month ago in downtown Los Angeles, right next to Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall. In a city that rarely produces architectural moments of international clarity, this proximity alone makes the encounter unavoidable. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro — architects of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and the High... Read More
Assembly and Orhan Ayyüce present Glen Small: Recovery Room, a selection of the architect’s proposals. The show is on view from November 9 through 30. Opening reception is Saturday, November 9, 7-9 pm. Exhibition hours are Wednesday through Sunday, noon-6 pm. Assembly is located at 2045 S. La Cienega Blvd. Ample parking is available in... Read More
I was recently watching the Kennedy Center Honors for Led Zeppelin, which was back in December 2012 (I just discovered it through a friend’s Facebook link with the flashy title “Look at Robert Plant in tears!” so of course, I had to see him crying) It was the most touching performance, showing Heart perform “Stairway... Read More
URL shorteners are in our lives since 2001 (1), making it easier to share long URLs through instant messaging, social media platforms and even IRC. Even though they were a huge help for people using chat systems in which clickable URLs were not natively supported (like early massively multiplayer online games), they became an indispensable... Read More
