Metropolis magazine Garden Walk mention
In the current (October 2009) issue of Metropolis, writer Kerry Jacobs writes of Garden Walk...
"...the Buffalo I discovered when I finally made my first trip there this summer was a pretty and vibrant place. The annual Garden Walk filled the city’s more gentrified residential neighborhoods with throngs of strollers determined to drop in on as many luxuriant backyards as possible."
The article, titled, Wright-ish, is mainly about the restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin Martin House and Toshiko Mori's newly constructed Greatbatch Pavilion. Jacobs questions the building of demolished historic structures and proposed-but-never-built structures - and issue of no small importance in Buffalo. To read the article, visit here. She suggests buildings remain part of history, and if something needs to be built, it should be built for the future, not the past.
What do you think? Should buildings that were designed and never built, as well as buildings that were built, but destroyed, be rebuilt?
Does the same hold true for gardens? Should old gardens be restored? Both Frank Lloyd Wright gardens (Martin House & Graycliff) here in Buffalo are on the planning stages to be restored from their original plans. I can't see any reason why we wouldn't restore them, even though nothing of them remains today.
I tend be skeptical of people who say architecture should work a certain way (which happens to correspond to their personal preference). It sounds a bit like dogma to me. There's enough space in the world for all kinds of projects. Congrats on the mention in Metropolis!
ReplyDeleteWell, the Parthenon has been rebuilt here in the US. The Romans were known for rebuilding and resculpting works from ancient Greece. And we have a good replica of David here too.
ReplyDeleteWhy not do it? Zoos preserve species and wildlife in order to bring awareness and appreciation. People sew clothes from patterns based on an original.
As for gardens, I am guessing it might not always be possible as species change over time -- but there have been some great garden designers that held a real place in history -- like that Indiana Jones guy...
I think what is going on here is good -- anything we build that isn't a strip mall or cookie cutter housing development can only help the area.
A lot of folks in Madison were petty put out that Buffalo built the boat house and we did not when we had the chance. Given the number of ugly buildings these days, I see no reason not to rebuild or build those things whose designs exist but they never got done.
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