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Interview with Anthony Lumsden page 6
V5: Have you seen Rem Koolhas's book Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large?
AL: I've seen his book.
V5: Do have thoughts on that?
AL:I don't know enough about the book yet. But he's done some interesting things that haven't been done, I mean there's a lot of things about his work that I respect, a lot of them.
V5: What books, or projects, or architects would you suggest that young students review?
AL: When I was teaching students, you know, there were people who were pretending that they were processing information. I mean, that's what school's about. You go to medical school, and no one will tell you to go work out everything about medicine for yourself. You need to learn disciplines. People in architectural school should have an absolute and they should be much more honest about disciplines.
It should be, "Okay, this is what Richard Meier does in this case, why does he do it this way?" "This is what Kahn does in this case, what's the basis of the Kahn system?" "What's the aesthetic system?" And maybe, "Okay, how can you apply that system?"
There should be absolute exposure to the disciplines of architecture. Anything you ought to be putting in this website about it should really say, "Okay, what's Kahn doing when he does a building? What are his priorities about the organization of shapes?"
Students must really look at Le Corbusier. If you look at (his governmental buildings in) Chandigarh (India), you see the damned buildings sit there; the water's here; the trees are there. You see that the sky is one element, the trees are another, the water's yet another thing, and the buildings are another. It's like a Japanese garden, "zip, zip, zip, zip, bing!" That's rocks, that's sand, essential qualities. It doesn't mean less is more, it means the essence is more. That's the problem with works that have only one element, it's just not the essence, it's repetition or something. You get a very strong aesthetic quality out of this visual order, and that's a hazard, though it has a certain appeal. But it's not as strong as, "this is one thing, that's another thing, that's another thing." That combination of elements is much more powerful.
You also asked me about different projects. I would say there's still a great deal to learn from Aalto, there's still a great deal to learn from Kahn, there's still a great deal to learn from Mies, there's still a great, an enormous, amount to learn from Le Corbusier!
V5: (Mark:) When we were in Frank Gehry's office, we talked about that with him. He's working on a project in Berlin where there's a very elaborate conference room which sits within an interior space. We were talking about Le Corbusier's Mill Owner's Association building in Amnedabad, India, which has the famous conference/meeting room and the different shapes held within that beautiful, concrete frame. And one of the things that Frank Gehry said in the interview was that people never gave him credit for being a student of architecture. He said, "They talk about all this other stuff, but they never give me credit for being a student of architecture, and I am! I know architecture, and I can go elbow to elbow with the best of them." I'm paraphrasing, but that's what he said in the interview. I think that was something that, as a student of yours, I always learned - the importance of being a student of architecture, really understanding what architects have done before you.
AL: Well, I would say to Frank, "Why have you never in fact illustrated those particular references in your work?" I mean, you get up there and talk about under the tree or some damned thing, and most people probably won't see it like I do and be able to say, "Okay, this form comes from here and that comes from there. This is an idea that influenced me, and that's what happened when this is related to that."
But Frank, Frank Gehry is just today applying some of his systems. Before, he may have been a student - but he was more a student of Art than he was of Architecture. Today his buildings are gaining enormously in power BECAUSE he's applying some of that "Student of Architecture" understanding to his work.
V5:I think that's a good place to end the interview. Thank you, Tony.
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