Kahn
Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 8:22 pm
I've been kind of fidgety lately. I got five DVDs from the library yesterday; determined to try to stay inside for a day. I haven't stayed home all day for at least six months. I wake up in the morning wanting clamp the pillows over my head but by the end of my first espresso I want to run out of the house screaming. But when I get outside I want to run back in screaming; of course by then it's too late....
...where was I; Oh yea five films, I was going to try to stay in bed all day. The more I looked at the DVD covers the more I thought I must be mad; a Christopher Nolan thriller about a struggling writer, Nine animated short films, 'My Architect' about a son's journey to find his cheating father, a travel guide to Medieval Transylvania (seriously), a Ben Stiller film 'Submarine',... I didn't even bother with the last two. ( Let me know if you saw them.) Monday's aren't great but Sundays aren't my finest days either.
I did, however, manage to stay in bed the whole day and, toward the end of day popped 'My Architect" in. I discovered a few fascinating things. Beyond the fact that in the mid twentieth century much of the world believed Louis Kahn to be "America's foremost living architect.", he also had three families which lived within minutes of each other yet he never spoke of two of them. When he died, many of his closest friends had no idea of the other two mistresses, even though they had both worked for and with him as architects. Most people never knew he had a son (Thus the premise of the movie).
Why should I find this important? OK, that's the best and worst of him. I also find aspects of his life very hopeful. He struggled all his life, was mostly supported early on by his working wife (isn't it nice when you have support?), but he didn't receive his first commission until after he was fifty years old. He was acknowledged as a great architect but ignored by his home city because of personality and bigotry. He never had anything built in the city where he had his office. He died in Penn Station NYC having just returned from Bangladesh where he was overseeing the construction of their new capital building, his finest acheivement. He died bankrupt (half a million dollars in debt) with no valid ID on him (I suppose because of his secret lives). He is honored in the film by some of the most prominent architects of our day.
I guess, to me, this means. people do what they have to do. I think it's possible that, not only do we have to do what we do but that, it's OK. And I think it means that it's never too late; we may still end up doing something great.
...where was I; Oh yea five films, I was going to try to stay in bed all day. The more I looked at the DVD covers the more I thought I must be mad; a Christopher Nolan thriller about a struggling writer, Nine animated short films, 'My Architect' about a son's journey to find his cheating father, a travel guide to Medieval Transylvania (seriously), a Ben Stiller film 'Submarine',... I didn't even bother with the last two. ( Let me know if you saw them.) Monday's aren't great but Sundays aren't my finest days either.
I did, however, manage to stay in bed the whole day and, toward the end of day popped 'My Architect" in. I discovered a few fascinating things. Beyond the fact that in the mid twentieth century much of the world believed Louis Kahn to be "America's foremost living architect.", he also had three families which lived within minutes of each other yet he never spoke of two of them. When he died, many of his closest friends had no idea of the other two mistresses, even though they had both worked for and with him as architects. Most people never knew he had a son (Thus the premise of the movie).
Why should I find this important? OK, that's the best and worst of him. I also find aspects of his life very hopeful. He struggled all his life, was mostly supported early on by his working wife (isn't it nice when you have support?), but he didn't receive his first commission until after he was fifty years old. He was acknowledged as a great architect but ignored by his home city because of personality and bigotry. He never had anything built in the city where he had his office. He died in Penn Station NYC having just returned from Bangladesh where he was overseeing the construction of their new capital building, his finest acheivement. He died bankrupt (half a million dollars in debt) with no valid ID on him (I suppose because of his secret lives). He is honored in the film by some of the most prominent architects of our day.
I guess, to me, this means. people do what they have to do. I think it's possible that, not only do we have to do what we do but that, it's OK. And I think it means that it's never too late; we may still end up doing something great.