another disappointment: USA pavilion shanghai expo

Discussion in 'Art & Architecture' started by guignol, Jun 2, 2010.

  1. guignol

    guignol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 28, 2005
    mermoz-les-boss
    Club:
    Olympique Lyonnais
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    i read the post about the air force memorial, and the disturbing juxtaposition of jingoistic slogans and self-serving sponsorship by lockheed and boeing.

    i still can't get over the hijacking of the new WTC, where "popular opinion" was used to derail the projects of real architectural value in favor of a SOM building of insufferable banality, which will be called the "freedom tower" and stand... 1776 feet tall (you couldn't make it up).

    the latest proof that all heart and soul has gone out of american architecture is the pavilion going up in shanghai.

    bad enough that neither public instances nor the domestic private center saw the need to have a pavilion at all, and that it ended up being funded by the chinese and by influent chinese americans to avoid the loss of face of the USA not being there at all. but the building itself is catastrophic.

    the thing only needs to stay up a few months so no style, no technique is too daring. the sky's the limit for these showcases. so what's ours look like?

    [​IMG]

    like a place you'd go to get your muffler repaired! now that's what i call making a statement!
     
  2. Matt in the Hat

    Matt in the Hat Moderator
    Staff Member

    Sep 21, 2002
    Brooklyn
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Who designed it?
     
  3. The Devil's Architect

    Feb 10, 2000
    The American Steppe
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Loss of face? Who the ******** cares.
     
  4. guignol

    guignol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 28, 2005
    mermoz-les-boss
    Club:
    Olympique Lyonnais
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    obviously not the US. but the chinese care the unholy hell out of it! trust me!
     
  5. The Devil's Architect

    Feb 10, 2000
    The American Steppe
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's their problem
     
  6. guignol

    guignol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 28, 2005
    mermoz-les-boss
    Club:
    Olympique Lyonnais
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    sure! one quarter of the world's problem. but pissing off one quarter of the world is a problem in itself. you'll understand when you're bigger.
     
  7. The Devil's Architect

    Feb 10, 2000
    The American Steppe
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    *sigh*

    At 40, I'm sure I'm done growing. And I'm sure if the Chinese were really pissed about it, they would have gotten over it rather quickly, like everyone always does with these perceived "insults".

    I guess if we really wanted to be insulting, we should have used lead based paint on the exterior and snacks laced with melamine
     
  8. Matt in the Hat

    Matt in the Hat Moderator
    Staff Member

    Sep 21, 2002
    Brooklyn
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    A billion people are really pissed off about this, Captain Hyperbole?
     
  9. guignol

    guignol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 28, 2005
    mermoz-les-boss
    Club:
    Olympique Lyonnais
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    please accept my profound apologies. your first flippant remark made me think you were some smartaleck adolescent, or perhaps one of those souls you see talking to themselves in the metro.

    but the clarity and insight of your second post, unravelling both incisively and exhaustively the intricacies of international relations in a way even a dullard like me can understand it made it clear that behind Mr. Warmth we have someone of stature: professor of political science at GU or ranking official in the state department at the very least.

    you should be very proud, at 40, to be able to say you're done growing. that gift the french call la science infuse is something precious and rare. most of us just have to keep plodding along, adding to our wisdom a grain of sand at a time. but thanks to the great load of knowledge you dumped on my pile i went to bed last night a great deal less ignorant, and for that i will be forever in your debt.
     
  10. guignol

    guignol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 28, 2005
    mermoz-les-boss
    Club:
    Olympique Lyonnais
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    i think you got me matt. but the Few who speak and decide for that Many (for better or worse) were and still are a bit more than simply nonplussed.

    the "insult" is all the worse because it was gratuitous (not to say free, there's no such thing as a free insult). the boycott of the moscow olympics was intentional and motivated by wider and more important issues. blowing off the shanghai expo would have just been airheadedness. not going to someone's party because you're having a tiff is one thing; not considering it important enough to mark on your calendar is something harder to explain or excuse.
     
  11. The Devil's Architect

    Feb 10, 2000
    The American Steppe
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    We don't have a metro where I live. I talk to myself on BigSoccer.

    Now you're just being boring.

    I didn't say I was done learning. I just don't think I'm going to break the 6' mark at this point in my life. And again, you'll pardon me for not really caring very much about the few who decide for the many getting a case of the redass because we didn't feel their dog and pony show was the most important thing in the world. The "Better City/Better Life" jazz is particularly ironic given the relocation of 50K/60K people and a couple hundred businesses/factories for something that's going to last for 4 months at the most.

    I'm sure if we send them another order for cheap fabricated goods, they'll forget all about it.

    For me, it would seem that in this age of sustainability, the participation in an event that is nothing more than a glorified trade show on steroids would show a lack of leadership in practical, sustainable design and development.

    YMMV.
     

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