Alaska and its Architecture
May I ask the Alaskan people what is the status of Thom Mayne's project for the State Capitol? A great spirit and expert in postmodern style, he will transform the Alaska place of government. But I have heard there are delays.
Also, this man Edwin Crittenden intrigues me.
posted by Latouche at Large at 1:37 AM
1 Comments:
Mr. Critenden's comments are very insightful, but too mild. I had to pause at the comment "We did a better job in Fairbanks."
But he did capture the sense of a huge, blown opportunity. Anchorage had everything, but it's become the architectural equivalent of a meth addict, and rapidly destroyed the few tiny traces of building history and human scale and local materials it had. It then generally compounded the damage by a set of physically disconnected, OVER-ambitious public buildings built far too cheaply. It is kind of the worst of all worlds: if it had no architecture tradition at all it might have been more evolutionary and inventive, the cabins and quonset huts and bits of federal deco persisting and engendering refinements; if it had serious planning it might have been a real jewel, the kind of sub-arctic place you see with strong communities, independence, and a lively, personable culture.
As it is, it's Federal Way dropped in Siberia, without the cheeriness, the endless sprinklings of the neo-Stalinist mini-mall revival movment, a T-111 nightmare of chill and cheapness and indifference to the world, embodied finally in the worst of it all, the cap of beige McMansions in the hills, which serve no god. And for this rolling aesthetic disaster, among others, you can primarily thank Wally Hickel, who this guy worked for.
Architecture students from around the world should be bused through town, reading from a card which says: Whatever you do, don't do anything here.
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