Art, Architecture & Cars (was "Wither Vintage Ferrari Values")

dongerdude - seem to remember that Lautner added on to this house back in the eighties..... a worker died there because he had to dig at the bottom of a 20 foot deep hole. The thing collapsed.... Lots of great Lautner out there. The best I've seen is Silvertop (near Neutra's Silver Lake house/studio). Lautner's own home was across the street.... see: http://www.johnlautner.org/Silvertop.html

Seem to recall that he also did a Palm Springs house for Bob Hope that was used in an early Bond film. Anybody remember? It seems to ahve been this one: http://www.johnlautner.org/arango.html

jon

 

GTSguy
I'm abig fan of silvertop too, though I've always wanted a hillside/cityview house, hence my love of Chemosphere and Garcia. I'm not sure if Hope house was used in a Bond movie - Elrod house was used in Diamonds Are Forever: http://www.johnlautner.net/elrodDAF.htm

The link you posted is to Arango, which is in Acapulco. This is Hope House: http://www.johnlautner.net/pics/lautner_hope1.jpg

The best online list of Lautner's projects I've yet found is: http://www.johnlautner.net/ (projects start about a third of the way down)

There's a list of movies featuring Lautner houses here: http://www.johnlautner.org/biblio.html

 

So can we call him the kitsch of architecture?

We shall have to agree to disagree.

 

dongerdude - I stand corrected. You are right. The Elrod hosue has been in my mind ever since seeing Diamonds Are Forever years ago. Love the overlapping circles, raw concrete, desert site, living room view over the pool.....

NOTE: Silvertop is a hillside house. It is on top of the hill overlooking Silver Lake. You can see Neutra's House below......
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Yes Henry, I agree!

Gosh, your Kitsch comment has got me wanting to say a lot - alas time is too tight right now - I'm actually researching this subject. There are (to me) many kinds of kitsch. While many use kitsch singularly as a negative, I don't. The best Kitsch embodies archetypal desires and aspirations..... While its materials and first impression may be cheap and overly simple, the best stuff incorporates a lot more.... Much like good jokes.

Funny that the reference to 'Diamonds are Forever' is immediately above... Diamonds (and flower) motifs are central to many kitsch designs. They can be found all over the world (note my vernacular moderne pics above). Here are a couple of recent images from Mexico City..... They show: a 6th century pot from Teotihuacan; the a frieze above a 17 c. church entry; a contemporary middle class residence.

Lots here.... will return to this later if there's interest.

Jon
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Ah, I hadn't realised Elrod was on a hillside - perhaps I'm confusing it with another house (I've only recently started learning about architecture, and I think I was about 9 or 10 last time I saw Diamonds are Forever). I too love the raw concrete - when I was at university our library had many raw concrete elements and lots of other people would make comments about it being drab, depressing and cheap due to the lack of paint. Sadly I could never convince them that it was wonderful. Even more sadly they've ripped the building down to replace it now (I still question why I made my small donation to the fund for a new library, such regard did I have for the old one).

Speaking of which the University I attended had a quite unusual engingeering building - see the pics. I never found out what the interior was like as it was restricted access and as a law student I wasn't allowed in.

I find it remarkable how similar our taste is. Though I'm still at the stage of saying 'I like that' - it's great to learn from those with greater knowledge. Thanks!
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Hey everyone, Rob Lay has opened a vote as to whether there should be a separate sub forum for Art and Architecture - the vote is here:
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143625

Just wanted to mention it in this thread then no one will miss it!

 

Here is a virtual tour of the our Spyker factory. Just click on the video button.

http://autotelegraaf.nl/vanonzeredactie/?id=43317

 

Voted.

 

Wow Rijk! Really impressive. Had not understood separation of assembly and sales area as shown here. This seems to work quite well.

Jon

 

Hi dongerdude - Let's hear it for James Stirling! So did the Leicester building leak? (OK horrible question, just joking! - my wife worked under Wright's famous leaking skylights (and asbestos) for a long time...) thanks for kind words....

cheers,

Jon

 

Jon,

In the current Spyker factory each assembly location has a video camera aimed to it and as a custumer you get access to the footage to follow the progress your car makes. For general visits to the factory, you now walk through the space where the craftsman are working. This is quite disturbing to them.

In the new set up, visitors are seperated to the second level. They are looking down on the assembly process without disturbing it. This is the crux of the concept, since Victor Muller wants to change the factory into Spyker World. This means that the majority of the new visitors are not actual clients.

 

Rijk - great! I magine seeing the car being made is a real thrill. Talk about personal service - wow! The way you've integrated owner/public with production/entertainment is quite compelling. Great mutual re-inforcement. Sounds like a great way to build the brand and make money. Was this idea influenced by Ferrari World?

Jon

 

Great Shell Oil ad! For those who have yet to see it, Shell's upcoming ad is really fantastik! While this films focus is on the global reach of Shell, its use of specific urban and rural backdrops (my favorites are the first scene which looks like the Appian Way and the Rio scenes) is fundamental to its success. Its great to see/appreciate cars singularly, but they are even more compelling when contextualized by real places and events......

The ad can be seen at: http://www.autoblog.com/2007/03/22/v...s-thanks-to-s/ (this is a downloadable high res site!)

Jon

 

Fine view indeed.
The image reminds me another one some of you would likely be interested to discover: Arch. Antoni Gaudi's NYC Vision from the Hudson River showing his famous 1181 ft (360 m.) height Grand Hotel Atraction project of 1908 to be erected on the later WTC site.
Lots of info, drawings and 3D virtual views on the WWW.
I would like to read your comments.

 

Please provide a link.....

 

I wonder if "Bambi and Thumper" look as good as the house after all these years?

 

Could google, for instance, "nyc + gaudi" and search "images" and will find several webs dealing with the subject such as:
www.arras.net
www.paranoiamagazine.com/gaudihotel.htlm
www.myspace.com
imran.typepad.com
along with many other sites on modernism arch. and art-related matters.

 

I doubt it!

 

Manel - your links don't seem to have anything to do with Guadi.... I had hoped that you knew of a link that showed Gaudi's vision of the Hudson to which you referred.

 

Have sent a PM to you earlier today.

 

Manel - For some reason none of the links provided above worked for me. But I got your PM and Googled as you suggested. Wow, this is the first that I'd heard of a Catalan proposal for the World Trade Center based on a Gaudi design. How novel! Here's what I found:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Antoni Gaudi's 1908 hotel vision. January 24 2003
Antoni Gaudi has emerged as a surprise contender in the contest to fill the void at the site of the World Trade Centre, nearly 80 years after his death.

A group of Spanish artists and an American architect plan to submit a typically extravagant design by the Catalan legend to the panel choosing a new look for the spot where the twin towers stood.

Gaudi's vision for a 360-metre hotel, topped with a star and looking like a spaceship, dates from 1908. It would have been the world's tallest structure until the Empire State Building was built in 1930. According to some, Gaudi planned the hotel for the same site in Lower Manhattan as the space left by the collapse of the twin skyscrapers of the World Trade Centre after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Paul Laffoley, a US Gaudi enthusiast, said adopting his plan would prevent rivalry between architects "since, instead of competing, everyone would acknowledge that Gaudi is a master and collaborate on realising Gaudi's dream".
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i just rediscovered this thread.

now i will have to go read through the rest of it.

i remember missing out completely on a tv show that they moved the time on once.

tom w

 

Tom,

This thread has been moved around a bit. Interested to hear your comments!

Jon

 

i like the garcia residence. the other thing looks like a flying saucer.

tom w