Antique Trader Blog with editor Noah Fleisher - Architecture

A synchroncity of antiques - Islamic antiquities dominate

Noah — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:07:33 GMT

It seems now that Islamic art is absolutely everywhere, and the amount of money that it's fetching - congruent with the amount of ire it's raising in some instances - is pretty amazing.

I've already written about it a few times this week and last week.

It started the attempted sale of some armor once, possibly, belonging to a revered Sikh Guru. Then a 12th century key to the holiest pilgrimage site in Mecca, and now, just yesterday, a dagger once belonging to Shah Jahan - arguably the greatest of India's Golden Age Mugal emporers - the man who built the Taj Mahal, and raised Islamic art and architecture to amazing levels in his reign, sold at Bonham's in London for nearly $3,000,000.

You have to admit, looking at it, that it's a thing of extraordinary beauty, made even more important by its provenance of having belonged to Shah Jahan, a man from whom very few personal relics survive. $3M seems like alot to spend, but as I wrote about the Hajj key yesterday, reclaiming cultural history is an expensive game, and them that have the bucks don't necessarily think of it as a numbers game. Face it, if you have all the bills in the Monopoly game, there's nothing on the board that's out of range.

Again, it went to an anonymous bidder who didn't wish to be identified. Who knows who it is, but most likely it was someone who was unhappy almsot 20 years ago when the Shah of Iran sold it to Jacques Desenfans, along with a lot of other things in the sale, on a visit in 1969, when the Shah's empire was just starting to wobble. That bit of its history has been more downplayed in the hubbub over its sale, but it's all part of the history of such a remarkable piece.

I'm not sure if the dagger is considered a holy relic, so I have no feeling on it being sold. If it is considered such, along with much of the other Islamic "art" that's been coming on the block, then I do have to take issue. Pieces of spiritual significance, whatever the faith, shouldn't be made available for a price. I have to think, though, the Shah Jahan dagger isn't considered spiritually important for Muslims, because there was no outcry, such as the one over the Sikh armor.

Shah Jahan's buildings and his name dot India, most notably the Taj, which he built as a masoleum for his wife, Mumtaz, when she died. I've seen the Taj Mahal, and it's an amazing site, especially if you can get there very early in the morning before the touts, the cars, the tourists and the choking, nasty smog from the copious cars the swarm Agra all day. There are few buildings in the world that can match it, or its creativity.

A conversation over caviar about architecture

Noah — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:38:37 GMT

This is a link to an interview with the winner of The Pritzker Prize for Architecture, Jean Nouvel.

The prize is the top award given to modern architects, and is normally the crowning achievement of a glorious career, rather than something that plucks an obscure designer from the mist of anonymity.

Nouvel is an interesting guy, and who am I to say who should and should notbe given what they're given. I have to say that, as interesting as his ideas are, and sound, man-oh-man is this a pretentious interview. I was waiting for the interviewer to ask if he could give him a kiss, or put a polish on that done... (As you can see by my pick above, I need a polist too, now and then...)

Anyway... Check it out. The pic here, though you can't see it too well, is Nouvel's proposed design for the Abu Dhabi Louvre Museum.

Modernist Architecture Icon Ralph Rapson dies

Noah — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:59:40 GMT

A giant of Modern Architecture has died. Ralph Rapson designed a lot of important structures, including the Greenbelt House and the Guthrie Theater in Minnesota. A true icon of the form.

Tom Wallace / Star Tribune

Rest in peace. And thanks for the buildings.

This wood's no good! Dealer in fake antique wood busted in MO

Noah — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:11:22 GMT

Interesting, but probably not as rare as we'd like to think.

This St. Louis dealer in supposedly antique wood is going to be paying a hefty fine and maybe seeing the inside of Club Fed for a while. It just goes to show that you have to be wary of who you buy from, and alays do you research, even if your next antique is going to be your floor.

This story comes via the St. Louis Business Journal.

Even with so much uncertainty, Iraqi antiquities continue to amaze

Noah — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 16:35:02 GMT

Here's one more reason to love the Internet. This came from a news feed out of Thailand and India.

It's about an ancient Babylonian town found by Iraqi archeologists.

With such a steady stream of bad news coming out of the region, it is good to know that scholarship and the unearthing of the past continue to go on. This is indeed an interesting read, especially if you're like me and you love anything that relates back to the ancient world circa B.C., where so much human societal culture dawned.

Pretty cool.

Contemporary, Modern and Classic architecture mix?

Noah — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:38:27 GMT

Not so sure I agree with the blog author on the post here aboue modern houses in old neighborhoods, and how new architecture should mix.

I do, however, respect the opinion and love the debate.

Personally, I like a bold statement in an old neighborhood, especially if it's meant to be so and if - if - it's well done. If it's hideous, then torch the sucker!

Check it out.

A divergent tale of Modern architecture: the classic and the... um...

Noah — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:09:53 GMT

Okay, so indulge me my love of architecture. A great building that has survived the test of time - structually and philosophically - carries the value of a great antique, in my book. And then some.

Two stories came across my path at the exact same time and they tell a very interesting story.

One is a story from the NYT on the sale of a houe designed by Louis Kahn - truly an amazing masterpiece of "Modern" architecture - being auctioned later this spring by Wright auctions in Chicago. Richard Wright is one of a handful of guys that knows Modernism,

Image by Ezra Stoller

The other is a story circulating across the AP wire and beyond - all around the blogosphere - about a famous Chatanooga, TN house shaped like a flying saucer.

Image by Greg Brown

There's something here, in the connection between these two structures, that speaks to the deep love Americans have of their personal space and their once-upon-a-time penchant for personal architecture.

On one hand, we have the Esherick house, which Kahn designed, and which is - simply put - a masterpiece. It's a one bedroom in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, that represents only one of three - THREE - homes that one of the 20th century's most famed architects ever designed and built. Look at the NYT story, see the pics; you can feel the excitement of Mid-Century America and the need for redesignation of personal space. It's small-ish, but wide open, with big windows and that undeniably classic Modernism look and feel. It's expected to go for a few million buck. A steal, I'd say, given what the house means philosophically.

Kahn made no efforts to hide the structure, weight or design of his buildings. They are wide-open, honest and inspiring in the way that the best of American modern architecture is/was. Kahn wanted inhabitants of his buildings, and the appreciating looks of passersby, to be totally immersed in the fullness and "heaviness" of a structure. You cannot help but be sucked in by such simultaneous ideas, such disinterested interest, if I can go a little Zen on it...

The Flying Saucer house in Tennessee? Well, while maybe not a "classic" in the sense that classic means "judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind," but it's a real eye-catcher, huh? I mean, you're not likely to see a house that says so clearly, "HEY! I WAS BUILT IN THE LATE 1960s/EARLY 1970s!" anywhere.

This thing came about, evidently built by two quite normal folks, about the time that Star Trek was cancelled and just as the U.S. was dominating the space race and putting its flag on the moon - which, if you didn't know, means that we own it. Somebody put enough thought and time into this place to make a decent enough house to stand almost 40 years now, which means it will soon be eligible for historic preservation. Let me tell you, if the thing could actually take off, I'd buy it in a heart beat. I'm still waiting to hear back from the realtor if it has booster jets somewhere underneath there...

You can bid on both, you could own both, you could be the ultimate post-modern homeowner.

If I had to choose though - and I know this will surprise those of you who know my penchant for kitschy 1970s stuff that makes me feel like a kid eating cheerios to the 6 a.m. glow of Saturday morning cartoons as our Standard Poodles, Chauvinist and Nischi, wait for the few that would inevitably drop (was that really worth the time it took to write?) - I would go for the Kahn house in a second. Just look at it. What a beauty.

I would, though, love to get a look inside the Saucer house, and to see if the warp drive is fully functioning. That could change things quite a bit...

Speaking of amazing architecture in Dubai...

Noah — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:05:23 GMT

This will be the last post about Modern architecture today, I promise. As you might be able to tell, I'm a bit of a biulding nut.

I wrote below, in the post about IBM building 25, about the U.S., and the world, lagging behind Abu Dabhi in architectural innovation, and this site only goes to prove it.

Look at what Dubai has planned for itself. Putting all the inequities in that society aside, it's quite amazing, really. If Dubai can pull of all of these buildings, it will truly outshine, archiecturally, anything America or the world has pulled off in terms of imagination and innovation of urban space.

Just a big wow here for some of these buildings. The one below is but a sampling of the amazing stuff being planned there.

The tallest building in the world? A resort, literally, in the louds... Crazy, man, crazy...

The big question is will it all be built, and will it last?

New Hope for IBM's Building 25?

Noah — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:09:39 GMT

I linked to the San Jose Mercury News yesterday about the suspicious fire that burned IBM's famous Building 25 in Silicon Valley. Here's an update.

Despite the looming infringement of a Lowe's Big Box being built next door, or on the site itself - depending on which side you listen to - preservationists and IBM are saying they are going to save the building, even it means rebuilding from scratch.

I say good for them, though the fire took more than glass and cement. It was, itself, and important link in modern architecture in America, something that showed the willingness to innovate our work and living spaces long before we started getting our butts kicked by Abu Dabhi.

Update: Here's another interesting piece off the West Coast about the meaning an relevance of Modern architecture in today's society, now that alot of it is entering the vaible for historic preservation phase. Nice and thoughtful.

It's from the News Tribune out of Washington State and is worth a read.

Greenest-HQ-ever!

Noah — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:47:24 GMT

Cool post from glivingtv.com about a Chicago architecture firm chosen to design the greenest building ever, The Masdar Development in Abu Dhabi.

One of the things that Middle Eastern countries with gobs of cash, and gobs of oil, are doing is pushing the design envelope on Modern Architecture - sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worst - but this is a pretty good looking building and a great idea. The philosophical underpinings of it, minus the exorbitant cost and the big "if" of will it ever get finished, will have repercussions throughout the world of green building.

Give it a look. Cool.

In Case of Apocalypse, break stylish glass

Noah — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:26:16 GMT

This was widely covered, and hailed in the MSM the last few days. I don't know... Philosophically speaking, I find it a little daunting and frightening. A tangible reminder of the damage that humans are wreaking on the planet at alarming places.

It's the Svalbard Seed Vault in Longyearbyen, Norway (nice name). You can see the below pics here.

Architecturally, though, I think - in fine Scandanavian Moderne fashion, I might add - the building is pretty awesome, a real tribute to the modern aesthetic, not that visitors to the planet eons from now will appreciate the differences in Lloyd Wright and, say, Gropius...

It's as if, in a million years or so - hopefully longer - if the planet is rid of humans and retakes everything, then we're visited by our future progeny returned to the homeworld to see exactly where they sprang from - stick with me - thart they would find not only the seed as proof that we wanted to preserve our existences, but a really cool building refelctive of the best of modern design of the time. Man... Won't those bionetic cyborgs be impressed.

Most importantly, the American eggplant will survive.

From the Web site:

Svalbard Global Seed Vault: Arctic Seed Vault Opens Doors for 100 Million Seeds

Ceremony Marking Unprecedented Effort to Protect Global Agriculture Draws World Leaders and Seeds from Over 100 Countries

LONGYEARBYEN, NORWAY (26 FEBRUARY 2008) - The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened today on a remote island in the Arctic Circle, receiving inaugural shipments of 100 million seeds that originated in over 100 countries. With the deposits ranging from unique varieties of major African and Asian food staples such as maize, rice, wheat, cowpea, and sorghum to European and South American varieties of eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato, the first deposits into the seed vault represent the most comprehensive and diverse collection of food crop seeds being held anywhere in the world.

A great piece of architectural glass gone in NYC

Noah — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:10:23 GMT

Living for so many years in NYC, I had more than my share of opportunities to check out the Robert Sower's window at JFK Airport's American Airlines terminal. It is - was - truly- an architectural masterpiece and a piece of Modernism that never lost its glory.

As an entry point to NYC and America for many millions of flyers, it spoke philosophically of the American spirit, its artistic soul and its ability to make the seemingly impossible possible. As a piece of art, I love this thing.

Now it's gone. Or going, at least, as reported across the nation and against the best efforts of the good folks at Save America's Window.

They did their best to get a sponsor to get behind the project, but many musuems said it would be too hard to keep the piece intact. Personally, I don't believe it and think it's a damn shame the window is coming down, piece by piece, to be scattered across the nation and possibly the world.

Often, traveling through JFK, the airport was so hectic to get into or out of that the only respite I was given, the only moment of zen and calm, was when I could walk out and see the sun streaming in distinct blades through those colored panes, or reflecting the light of night time, reminding me I had indeed just come home.

Goodbye to the Sower's window and goodbye to a distinct American art treasure.

Save the suburban ranch house!

Noah — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:14:09 GMT

Growing up in the Dallas suburbs, the ranch house was ubiquitous. It's what the word "suburb" means to me. I see a ranch house and I see yellowed summer days, neat little lawns, abutting fences and paved driveways with little pieces of broken glass just waiting to lodge in the unsuspecting foot of a kid running to the front door for lunch - baloney sandwiches on Wonder with yellow mustard. (Forgive me, but there has been steady snow, more than a foot, over the last 24 hours and I am a bit snow-blind, desperate for a warm day, if only in memory.)

This is an article from the Arizona Star Net about Tucson's vast tracts of ranch houses, and whether some - or all - of them could be considered historic and worth of preservation.

For the record, seeing the proliferation of McMansions that have sprouted like weeds across the nation, I do believe these houses are worthy of preservation and historical designation.

I've been to Tucson a few times, and find it to be a pretty groovy - if funky - little town. It rambles and has a certain endearing shabbiness to it. It also has some of the coolest looking post-war neighborhoods you'll ever come across, with bright colors and - believe it or not - totally pleasing ranch architecture.

I've always found that the ranch house spoke to the American boom of the the 1950s, when millions of Americans were able to buy houses and settle areas that were pretty inhospitable, at least by today's suburban standards. The best of ranch house architecture embodies the Usonian ideas of Frank Lloyd Wright, and speaks to the master's philosophy. They have open living spaces, open fire places and large windows onto the backyard, even if it's just scrub or hardpan with a rusting swingset. The worst have that horrible peeling green carpet that everything in the 1970s seemed to have.

Take a look and decide for yourself.

World's longest arch bridge to be built in Dubai

Noah — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:27:36 GMT

You just have to wonder why...

And you have to wonder what future alien civilizations will think of our cultures when they excavate our defunct planet millions of years from now. They'll find this bridge, and a building or two from Las Vegas...

I do have to admit that the picture is pretty funky and space age, but I have to wonder about the water in the pictures. Dubai is a desert, no? Also, Dubai? It says that the bridge will allow passage of 2000 cars an hour, that 48,000 a day, right? I guess there will be plenty of men busy driving back and forth on that thing, because they don't allow women to drive over there...

The info above came from a blog called Rocket Boom. Fun stuff.

Just can't resist this - American Roadside Architecture as serious art...

Noah — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:23:38 GMT

This is about an exhibition of mid-20th century American Roadside architecture - pictures of it, at least - making its way across... are you ready?... Macedonia.

Yes, one of the most ancient places on the globe is getting a good look at how American represented itself architecturally in the era of post-war business hedonism.

Personally, I love this kind of architecture and remember fondly many roadtrips as a kid in Texas and in my 20s - during those blissful summers when i had nothing to do and a car to take to do it - when my friends and I would literally set out for a few days at a time and seek out these places. The more dated the better. I truly believe that America's rapidly dissapearing roadside architecture is replete with gems and they should be saved, if only for the enjoyment of the world and the throngs of Macedonian tourists that are bound to be flocking to our rapidly decaying rural highways...

Arson takes an historic Queen Anne in Mass.

Noah — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:06:35 GMT

Hate to see something like this, as reported by The Preservationist Online.

These lovely old houses in Massachusetts are amazing and this one was all set for restoration... Someone decided to toss a match on it... I wonder how they can sleep at night, or if they do at all. Maybe it was an organized thing. Maybe it was a bunch of idiot kids, and maybe it was a crackhead who dropped their pipe... Hate this, especially when it was going to be brought back to life...

Check it out.

Worst Building Ever?

Noah — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:40:26 GMT

I am, at heart, a a great lover of groundbreaking architecture - Modern, post-modern, post-post-modern - you name it, I'm an adherent and a seeker.

Esquire Magazine's Web site regularly features some of what it considers the worst architcture on the planet, and I have to frequently agree with the choices of its writer(s). The alert for the column that came across the Web today is for what writer Eva Hagberg calls "The Worst Building in the History of Mankind," it's the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea, and I'm not necessarily discinclined to agree, though there is something amazingly thrilling and strange about this monstrosity that was abondoned 2/3 of the way through building, and has sat vacant for the last two decades.

It's a great little essay, with a great couple of videos - totally sci-fi and futuristic in a retro, steam punk kind of way.

From the article:

"A picture doesn't lie -- the one-hundred-and-five-story Ryugyong Hotel is hideous, dominating the Pyongyang skyline like some twisted North Korean version of Cinderella's castle. Not that you would be able to tell from the official government photos of the North Korean capital -- the hotel is such an eyesore, the Communist regime routinely covers it up, airbrushing it to make it look like it's open -- or Photoshopping or cropping it out of pictures completely."

Somehow the cleresy of the North Korean government in the 1980s must have thought that the hotel would be a shining beacon of communist architecture, anticipating the flood of visitors to Pyongyang when capitalism fell. Now, simply, they are saddled with it.

I have to say, though, there is something awe-inspiring - and frightening in a totalitarian sort of way - about it. Read the link above and see what you think.