Interesting that the disconnect between architects and the public is often the same as the disconnect between other academics and the public. Interesting though that architects demand public space, whereas academics can demand public money, but not necessarily their attention. Of all people to be utterly connected with the public, I can see how the architect needs to be at the top of the list.
Wow - Thanks.
Im finding lots of people have these kinds of views about memorials. I can post many of the same type but no reason to - just one from dear ol dad!
"For the past 20 years, starting with the Viet Nam Wall, this country has been overindulging in monument building."
Only now after this controversy am i starting to realize this trend.
BadboyRecovered,
With the very limited amount of free time to compose lenghty posts, I knew it would take a while for me to write about Flight 93.
I remember reading an article a few years ago complaining about the overbuilding of memorials. Your father was absolutely right, the Vietnam Memorial changed every subsequent memorial design by substituting the triumphant loss of life with sadness, hurt and calls for peace. Maya Lin's design corresponds well to the prevailing attitude to the Vietnam War, in that soldiers died pointlessly for an ignoble cause, and therefore what a tragedy for all concerned. Instead of giving thanks for their service, its better to engrave their names on a black (the color for mourning and death)stone wall and cut through a green lawn and descend a few feet underneath the surface, so as to immitate burial.
The designs of memorials these days seem to reflect the popular act of commiserating your emotions in public, or what has been called the "Oprahfication" of America.
Now memorials have been springing up everywhere and it's less about commemorating major events per se than it is to address an political minority's grievance and desire to raise their self-esteem.
Just for the record -- this is what he said in full.
No, I never heard anything about it before your message. For
the past 20 years, starting with the Viet Nam Wall, this
country has been overindulging in monument building. At the
same time they are teaching our children less and less about
American History - or what they do teach isn't history, but
agenda-building propaganda (e.g., our ancestors were racist
pigs whose primary purpose in life was wiping out Indians and
Maxicans and, additionally, keeping blacks in bondage).
As a result, the younger generations are exposed to a bunch of
sentimental drivel over historically minor events but never to
the hard realities and hardships of nation building. So there
is little or no appreciation for the Constitution and the fact
that this document is a list of limited enumerated powers that
the people give to government - it's not a blank check that
encourages government to step into every aspect of our lives.
Mick
I didnt want to post all that because - well - i thought some would take offense. But since you sound like his brother lol....
Thank god for the internet. The things i would not even be aware of if not for this would be unreal!
I became aware of your blog with the post on the new chicago tower ( im from Chicago burbs) -- been hooked since then --- GREAT BLOG!
Thanks for your praise. It means a lot to me and it gives me an incentive to continue writing.
What your father has said has, I think, been articulated by Victor Davis Hanson. He calls the way history is being taught as therapy. My youngest brother of twenty years can tell me nothing about WW2 except about Japanese Internment Camps. He can tell me nothing about the Civil Rights movement except one episode of some gruesome lynching. And he's a very smart guy. I've looked at his textbooks and it's true that they have evolved in content from the time I took those same courses. Still, history was not taught with much passion then, and it was more a matter of remembering terms and phrases with little discussion on the actual story itself.
Having lived in Chicago during two separate 6-month stints, I will always have a place in my heart for that city. The people there were always nice and helpful, and the architecture was to die for. I listen on a daily basis to WLS AM radio, particular the entertaining Roe Kohn show. The politics of that city is always fascinating, with some colorful characters and always slight stench of corruption. Mayor Daley is one of the funnier mayors in America. I chuckle at the ordeal that the town of Cicero is going through. Governor Blagojevich is annoying, and Senator Obama is a fraud and Dick Durbin is worse. The Illinois G.O.P. is embarrassing these days. Having no car, and suffering from the Chicago-centric view of the universe while there, I didn't get to know the suburbs at all. All I know well is Oak Park, and you can guess why.
Still, I'll be coming back to Chicago from time to time, and I hope to continue posting more.
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