November 18th: Students speak their minds about Eloquence - Part I

This week and next we have a lively conversation with students, who give their takes on Architecture & Eloquence.

Here are our students, in the studio; a short video of us setting up:

This experiment in Radio Pedagogy was inspired in part by the this article in Harvard Magazine:

New media transform college classes

First up: the Frank Gehry-designed Beekman Towers, on Beekman Street in Lower Manhattan.

These are, of course, highly effective renderings of the design intent. You'll have to venture down to assess the results for yourself in person!











Second up, a conversation about Native peoples of the Southwestern plains, the Anasazi, at Mesa Verde:

And an Anasazi kiva - sacred place of purification and spiritual renewal:

We spoke about the entrance - from above - and the round shape of the kiva, as you can see in this photograph.










Next up: Juan Carlos Villanueva's ill-fated mega-block development in Caracas - 23 de Enero, which was occupied by squatters from the ranchos that it replaced - bringing with them the squalid style of living they had previously lead in those hovels, the ranchos.

Above, a scene showing how poorly used the "green" spaces between the buildings became.

And last up for our conversation of November 18th, Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan:

In our conversation both Professor Knox and I defended the well-planned landscaping as an example of the best of examples of the Tower In The Park concept,

Jane Jacobs' love of the typical Manhattan Street notwithstanding, Stuy Town is a truly successful alternative to the ruthless grid.



Next, on November 25th we will talk about the Farnsworth House designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe; the Shröder House in Utrecht, Netherlans designed by Gerrit Rietveld; the Roman-Eqyptian Temple of Dendur, now in the Sackler Wing of the Metropolitan Museum, NYC; and the rude thing that Morphosis and Thom Mayne have designed for Cooper Union at 41 Cooper Square, New York.

Our musical interludes were as follows:

Gehry's Beekman Tower

Flower duet from the opera Lakme'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qx2lMaMsl8

American Indian aesthetic sensibilites,

Chirpaq sacred music – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Y4kpZ7xQk

23 de Enero by Juan Carlos Villanueva in Caracas

Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileras http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crL1H8INb8c

Stuyvesant Town & City Planning

Gerswhin – Rhapsody in Blue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQPDG-T7BVM

Outro theme
Velvet Underground: Sweet Jane (for Jane Jacobs & all things related to The Village)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgUs7yWnDJ8

Thanks for listening. Speak with you again soon.