Juxtapositions

 
If architects are unsure about what architecture is, what do we mean by: 'getting it right', 'doing what people like', 'being on the cutting edge', 'fit', 'relevance', etc.?

Cities have always existed as juxtapositions of contrasts: between old and new, solid and transparent, big and small, rich and poor; may I say also the good, the bad and the ugly to borrow a phrase from Sergio Leone's idea of the profane trinity of human struggle.

In our time a dispassionate tolerance underscores this pluralism.

There is a simplistic view that all beliefs have equal values but perhaps ethical forms can vary, operating sensibly according to their own criterion. This implies the existence of parallel worlds.

In the chaotic vision of the modern city, there is a problem of assimilation. We passed through the phase of 'contextual design. It was a folly. Making a modern design fit into a broader context is somewhat like asking a jazz musician to jam while the orchestra plays Brahms. Would it not be preferred to have the two different events on separate occasions?

The actual condition of the modern city is that of juxtaposition of buildings loaded with meaning. Expanding the critique into this realm begins the pleasure of designing for the modern world.

 
Rome, 28 4 2007