"Architecture is frozen music". So said Goethe. But the question that must follow is what kind of music. 29th Street Mall or your local indoor stroller may be Barry Manilow. Then seeing Radiohead the other night ... that is truly sublime. After such a transcendant event - seeing music that exhibits creativity, authenticity, a unique expression of an individual's journey in this world ... a journey of intensity, grace, and reflection .... what is the frozen counterpart of this profound expression. I can only hope to achieve such work. It provides a mark to shoot for - an analog in another art form - to try and create places, spaces, buildings that have the same sense of meaning and touch people in such a deep way.
It is worth reflecting on during the design process - what is the music, the spirit, the essence of this place that we are creating. Or as a critic, what is this place saying ... Aretha Franklin, Brahms, The Beatles ('Yesterday' for your favorite nostalgic building), Jimi Hendrix or maybe, if one is lucky Radiohead.
What I love about the movie "Pleasantville" is the the discovery of color, Jimi Hendrix, and Jackson Pollack that comes out of the black and white world of the small town dream. My problem with New Urbanism is it seems similarly stuck in that black and white nostalgia, without integrating new ideas of music, art, life, experience. What makes Radiohead so moving (to me) is the embracing of authentic experience at the core of the work - that experience that so moves the listener.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDS4wOd_o1I
And with this attempt at linking an amazing concert to this blog it is off to China. To see what strange and interesting experiences await.