The Presence of The Past / [presented by] Robert Stern.

Format:

Sound recording

Contributor:

Stern, Robert A. M., narrator.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architecture, Postmodern.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 video file (35 minutes)): sound, color

Place of Publication:

London, England: Pidgeon Digital, 1980.

Summary:

At the time of this talk Robert Stern practised architecture in New York, and taught at Columbia University. His ideas and work have been widely publicised in recent years, his Post-Modern style always the subject of heated debate in architectural circles. He is the author of several books: "New Directions In American Architecture" and "The Architect's Eye: American Architectural Drawings 1977/78", and has arranged a number of exhibitions. In this talk Stern, provocateur par excellence, expounds and illustrates his approach. Post-Modern buildings, he says, are designed to mean something. Post-Modernism accepts diversity, prefers hybrids to pure forms, borrows from the past, layers space. He finds all these characteristics in his favourite building, Sir John Soane's Museum in London. "I admire Soane extravagantly. He brought together in one building so many complex strands of what it means to be an artist or architect and a citizen of the world - the need to make a statement within a context. Rather than "less is more", Soane seems to be saying "more is not enough"... Architecture is about everything... That is what it must be, must move toward". At the International Design Conference at Aspen in 1980, Stern's wide-ranging presentation acted as the necessary irritant, it left some people fuming, some indifferent, but no one uninvolved.

Contents:

Robert Stern In 1976

Foro Romano, Rome

Hameau Du Trianon, Versailles 1783

Top: Crystal Palace By Paxton. Bottom: Centre Pompidou By Piano & Rogers

Newport Casino, Rhode Island

Penn Station, New York, By McKim

Mead & White. 1906 - 1910

Penn Station: Concourse & Hall

Westchester Residence, Armonk, New York, By Stern (RAM)

Westchester Residence: Interior

Lang Residence, Washington, Connecticut, By RAMS. Top: Views To North East. Bottom: Views To South East

Longfellow House, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Governor Gore House, Waltham, Massachusetts By Charles Bulfinch, 1909 - 1910

House On Seal Harbour, Maine, By RAMS

Lawson Residence, By RAMS

Hypothetical Proposal For Subway Suburb, By RAMS

Charlotte, North Carolina

Town House By RAMS

Solar Swimming Pool Project By RAMS

Left: Mies van der Rohe's Chicago Tribune Tower Competition Entry. Right: Philip Johnson & His AT&T Building

Chicago Tribune Tower. Left: Adolf Loos' Entry To Original Competition. Right: Robert Stern's Entry To Second Competition, 1980

Linz Forum 1980: RAMS' Design

Model Of Building For Best, By RAMS

Sir John Soane's Museum, London.

Notes:

Title from publisher's website (viewed April 30, 2021).

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.