In Toward a New Architecture, what does Le Corbusier mean by “sight?” He means both physical eyesight and metaphorical insight, and he moves back and forth between those meanings smoothly but not always clearly or consistently. First, I have a few general notes. Corbusier praises engineering for its adherence to math/efficiency, which “puts us inContinue reading “Eyes That Do Not See”
Author Archives: sutton@assemblyarch.com
Concepts: why do we even have them?
In the year since I last wrote here (I know—I have been very bad) I have continued to think about why we even teach concepts in the first place. I have also authored a new course on architectural history and philosophy (hopelessly ambitious in its cross-cultural and temporal reach) which was the equivalent of writingContinue reading “Concepts: why do we even have them?”
3 More Darlings
Another semester has gone into the books, and I am pleased to say by dint of great struggle, most of my students managed to avoid the temptations and cliches (and OK, maybe I encouraged them very strongly) that were driving me a little crazy the previous semesters. However, they were not completely immune to jumpingContinue reading “3 More Darlings”
You Get One Question
In response to my common in-class refrain about the goals of ancient philosophy, which tried often to define “the good life” and tell us how to get there, one of my students recently asked me what the core question of modern philosophy is. My first hunch was that it’s something like “How can we sayContinue reading “You Get One Question”
Scientific Fiction
This past week I have been helping friends pack to move, and the task I have been working on in particular is boxing a lot of old science fiction magazines and monthly anthologies, the earliest of which is from 1939. Through great effort, I have managed for the most part to avoid perusing things asContinue reading “Scientific Fiction”
3 Darlings I’d Like to Kill
Last week was a disaster on the political front, so I am going to tackle some itty bitty evils just to get in practice for the larger ones we will be struggling with for years. Specifically, there are 3 things I am really tired of seeing in student projects, and I can basically guarantee thatContinue reading “3 Darlings I’d Like to Kill”
No They’re There
One of my personal privileges is that I meet a lot of young adults who are still very much in the process of forming their opinions about things, usually without the benefit of relevant experience. My undergrads take a binary approach to gender as pretty much given, for example, even the ones who push theContinue reading “No They’re There”
Showdown: Beauty vs Presence
“Architecture is not about beauty; it is about presence.” These words, pinned to the wall as inspiration by local architecture students, along with a citation suggesting that this is something they’ve heard from their studio teacher, make me uneasy.