Keith posted this video last night. His stated purpose "to capture the sight and sound of water" is a good guide to watching the video. Take a look at how the water moves through the gorge. It's not random; it's creating patterns and shapes that flow and morph as the space changes.
Showing posts with label keith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label keith. Show all posts
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Fallingwater
Actually, this should be called "Mostly Cumberland, MD with some Fallingwater" because as wonderful as a well designed house is, it has nothing on the madness that is small town America. I love it.
Fallingwater is probably the most iconic house in existence, after the White House. Most people don't know the name, but one look at this picture that I have stolen from the internet and you will know exactly what I am talking about:
The house was designed by the renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and depending on whom you ask it is either his "most well known" project or his "most perfect" project. Regardless, visiting it is an experience that was thuroughly enjoyable.
Prior to this, the only other Wright home I visited was the Robie House in Chicago. Claire, her father, and I toured the building last summer and I was very impresed with it. However, because of how the neighborhood had changed in the intervening years I was not really getting the full Wright experience. I've often been told that with a Wright house the landscape is an extension of the living space, but it was not until I set foot in Fallingwater that I understood this.
Every window in the house provides a spectacular panorama of the valley in which the house sits. Every porch and veranda seems to float right into the view. You don't feel like you are in a house, but somehow floating amongst the trees and the river. This experience is, obviously, carefully engineered by Wright, who moves you and your eye around the house like he were directing a film. It's an uncanny experience to be in a place that so determines your experience of it. It really is like Wright is there, telling us how to feel and what to look at.
Though what you see around the house is important, what is more impressive is what is hidden. Open stairways are carefully angled to hide other rooms as you pass over them. Each bedroom at the house has it's own cantilevered terrace over the falls, but the orientation of the house blocks any view of the path to the house, or the guest house up the hill. I've never experienced this kind of careful and considered design, where the house itself is not only a work of art, but serves as the channel through which something beautiful is experienced -- in this case, the wild Pennsylvania countryside.
During our tour, the guide pointed out some supporting pillars that had little flanges on the side. From the bottom of the path, the pillars look like stunted plants, with stubby branches. But from the top of the path looking down, the angle of the pillars is such that all the flanges disappear. I think this was a subtle thesis for the entire house: that in this space, certain things will be presented to you, and others intentionally hidden.
Here's some crappy pictures that I took. Hopefully I'll have some better ones soon.
This is a very difficult photo to unpack. Just let it sink in.
I should mention that this whole trip was the brain child of my pal Keith. Our journey was a strange one, driving 3 hours into the backwoods of Pennsylvania. This trip also took us along Route 68, AKA the National Highway. This is really quite the road: plunging through mountain passes, and winding around the rounded Appalachian peaks. Being a highway, it meant that we found ourselves far more entertained than we would have been on a toll road. Seeing things like the site where Noah's ark is being rebuilt; signs that welcome you to Maryland, and ask that you "drive gently;" houses covered with icicles; a road sign that simply says "BEGIN" in large, block letters; and of course, Cumberland, Maryland.
We stopped in Cumberland on our way back from Fallingwater looking for something to eat and, of course, adventure. From the road, it looked like a strange, rambling, complicated old-style city in a valley -- like Cincinatti, but smaller. Churches, bridges, and houses jutted around at strange angles that I found truly intriguing. However, once dismounted, we found it to be eerily empty. While it was clear that much work had been put into cleaning up buildings and developing a downtown, the only people we saw were inside restaurants. The following pictures I think go a long way toward fleshing out the experience of Cumberland.
I like to call this one "Trashy."
Cumberland, MD is the kind of place where you can buy a Confederate flag rug and a Robert E. Lee Knifegun in the same store.
(In there defense, we did see some hipper, cooler stores around. But this is funnier.)
There were five of these tableaus, each more politically incorrect than the next. This one is the winner by virtue of the pink leopard.
The mid-1950's Boy Scout handbook was mostly a grimoire for calling upon the ghosts of dead Indians.
Keith R. meets a mysterious long-necked figure in Cumberland, MD.
Truth be told, we had a great time exploring this part of America. It was weird, it was kind of crappy, but I liked it a lot. It's a small town that hasn't given up, and is trying very hard to reinvent itself. There's some really neat things to see in the town, especially if you are like me and love old buildings, winding streets, and numerous beautiful churches.
I should say that we had a PHENOMENAL and REASONABLY PRICED meal at an Italian place downtown. Everyone was very nice and curious about us, which was sweet. The drivers were another story, though. Indeed, navigating the sprawling roads and blind corners of the city was a bit of a challenge even when you are not being tailgated. It did, however, provide a major insight into the nature of the city: Cumberland Maryland is the kind of place where you accidentally drive to West Virginia.
Enough said, I think.
Fallingwater is probably the most iconic house in existence, after the White House. Most people don't know the name, but one look at this picture that I have stolen from the internet and you will know exactly what I am talking about:
The house was designed by the renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and depending on whom you ask it is either his "most well known" project or his "most perfect" project. Regardless, visiting it is an experience that was thuroughly enjoyable.
Prior to this, the only other Wright home I visited was the Robie House in Chicago. Claire, her father, and I toured the building last summer and I was very impresed with it. However, because of how the neighborhood had changed in the intervening years I was not really getting the full Wright experience. I've often been told that with a Wright house the landscape is an extension of the living space, but it was not until I set foot in Fallingwater that I understood this.
Every window in the house provides a spectacular panorama of the valley in which the house sits. Every porch and veranda seems to float right into the view. You don't feel like you are in a house, but somehow floating amongst the trees and the river. This experience is, obviously, carefully engineered by Wright, who moves you and your eye around the house like he were directing a film. It's an uncanny experience to be in a place that so determines your experience of it. It really is like Wright is there, telling us how to feel and what to look at.
Though what you see around the house is important, what is more impressive is what is hidden. Open stairways are carefully angled to hide other rooms as you pass over them. Each bedroom at the house has it's own cantilevered terrace over the falls, but the orientation of the house blocks any view of the path to the house, or the guest house up the hill. I've never experienced this kind of careful and considered design, where the house itself is not only a work of art, but serves as the channel through which something beautiful is experienced -- in this case, the wild Pennsylvania countryside.
During our tour, the guide pointed out some supporting pillars that had little flanges on the side. From the bottom of the path, the pillars look like stunted plants, with stubby branches. But from the top of the path looking down, the angle of the pillars is such that all the flanges disappear. I think this was a subtle thesis for the entire house: that in this space, certain things will be presented to you, and others intentionally hidden.
Here's some crappy pictures that I took. Hopefully I'll have some better ones soon.
This is a very difficult photo to unpack. Just let it sink in.
I should mention that this whole trip was the brain child of my pal Keith. Our journey was a strange one, driving 3 hours into the backwoods of Pennsylvania. This trip also took us along Route 68, AKA the National Highway. This is really quite the road: plunging through mountain passes, and winding around the rounded Appalachian peaks. Being a highway, it meant that we found ourselves far more entertained than we would have been on a toll road. Seeing things like the site where Noah's ark is being rebuilt; signs that welcome you to Maryland, and ask that you "drive gently;" houses covered with icicles; a road sign that simply says "BEGIN" in large, block letters; and of course, Cumberland, Maryland.
We stopped in Cumberland on our way back from Fallingwater looking for something to eat and, of course, adventure. From the road, it looked like a strange, rambling, complicated old-style city in a valley -- like Cincinatti, but smaller. Churches, bridges, and houses jutted around at strange angles that I found truly intriguing. However, once dismounted, we found it to be eerily empty. While it was clear that much work had been put into cleaning up buildings and developing a downtown, the only people we saw were inside restaurants. The following pictures I think go a long way toward fleshing out the experience of Cumberland.
I like to call this one "Trashy."
Cumberland, MD is the kind of place where you can buy a Confederate flag rug and a Robert E. Lee Knifegun in the same store.
(In there defense, we did see some hipper, cooler stores around. But this is funnier.)
There were five of these tableaus, each more politically incorrect than the next. This one is the winner by virtue of the pink leopard.
The mid-1950's Boy Scout handbook was mostly a grimoire for calling upon the ghosts of dead Indians.
Keith R. meets a mysterious long-necked figure in Cumberland, MD.
Truth be told, we had a great time exploring this part of America. It was weird, it was kind of crappy, but I liked it a lot. It's a small town that hasn't given up, and is trying very hard to reinvent itself. There's some really neat things to see in the town, especially if you are like me and love old buildings, winding streets, and numerous beautiful churches.
I should say that we had a PHENOMENAL and REASONABLY PRICED meal at an Italian place downtown. Everyone was very nice and curious about us, which was sweet. The drivers were another story, though. Indeed, navigating the sprawling roads and blind corners of the city was a bit of a challenge even when you are not being tailgated. It did, however, provide a major insight into the nature of the city: Cumberland Maryland is the kind of place where you accidentally drive to West Virginia.
Enough said, I think.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Bowling for Mason Proper
Some of the Gargkids (read: the new staff) took out 3/5 of popular band Mason Proper bowling in order to produce an article and a very neat video.
For those unaware, Matt Thompson (the tall one in circular glasses) is a Garg Alum himself. And I don't know if it's clear from this artistically edited movie, but the entire band is a bunch of really nice guys. They even let me and Keith hangout backstange with them when we saw their show in November -- gave us free beer with them and everything!
 |
| Mason Proper at the Black Cat |
Oh, and buy their album. Buy it for real, or download from iTunes.
And subscribe to the Gargoyle.
Friday, December 05, 2008
It's Six AM
Do you know where your children are?
---
Yes, actually. I do want this guy's job.
---
A few weeks ago I caught up with Garg-alum and all around cool guy Matt Thompson at a performance of his band Mason Proper. Keith (Garg-alum and all around cool guy) snapped a few commemorative frames.
Incidentally, Mason Proper has a new album out and it is great. Highly recommend it.
(Fun fact: the last two pictures are BACK STAGE with Mason Proper! Lead Guitarist Brian explains to me that they were told to pick one beer, and the club provided 40-some bottles of it. They choose Red Stripe.)
---
Further plug: buy the new Mason Proper album via InSound or iTunes.
---
Floating cranes are cool. Floating cranes picking up submarines is even cooler. Scroll about halfway down.
---
Yes, actually. I do want this guy's job.
---
A few weeks ago I caught up with Garg-alum and all around cool guy Matt Thompson at a performance of his band Mason Proper. Keith (Garg-alum and all around cool guy) snapped a few commemorative frames.
Incidentally, Mason Proper has a new album out and it is great. Highly recommend it.
(Fun fact: the last two pictures are BACK STAGE with Mason Proper! Lead Guitarist Brian explains to me that they were told to pick one beer, and the club provided 40-some bottles of it. They choose Red Stripe.)
---
Further plug: buy the new Mason Proper album via InSound or iTunes.
---
Floating cranes are cool. Floating cranes picking up submarines is even cooler. Scroll about halfway down.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The Sellout Trifecta Is The Leading Cause of Minivans in America
As you may have gathered from reading my Twitters, I have been going to the gym. Not only that, I enjoy going to the gym. How did this happen? I like to say it's the sellout trifecta:
I might as well buy a minivan, and start worrying about whether or not the neighbor's fence line is on my property.
---
But the truth is I've always enjoyed strenuous physical activity. I worked outside digging holes for various organizations for many summers partly because it just feels good to be active.
But in the end this is all Claire's fault; she's the one that started me going. I think I might be addicted.
---
Is it time for a link-dump? Oh yes!
---
As you read yesterday, the International Space Station turned 10 on Nov. 20, 2008. And today, the most recent addition to the ISS, new machine that converts urine into water, is fully operational. I know that gets me excited about the thrill and romance of space travel!
Joking aside, it's a vital technology for any long-term missions, such as moon settlements or travels to mars.
So, the next time you're supping at the ISS, just remember to forgo the water and stick with the wine. You'd also do well to avoid the meatloaf; you really don't wanna know where that comes from. (Rimshot)
---
Today on his blog, my pal Keith linked to this video about the dangers of the Military Industrial Complex. Funnily enough, both he and I are part of it.
---
An absolutely dead-on presentation about the issues facing the music industry. The presenter rightly points out that worrying about CD sales is idiotic; when consumers and artists are no longer satisfied with the way music is sold, the industry needs to respond to the demand.
Many thanks to long-time pal and former roommate Justin for the heads up on that one. Justin, I had a dream about you last night. In all the dreams I have about you, we end up being pursued by the police.
1. Girlfriend (with dog)
2. REAL job (with health insurance)
3. Gym Membership (just added!)
I might as well buy a minivan, and start worrying about whether or not the neighbor's fence line is on my property.
---
But the truth is I've always enjoyed strenuous physical activity. I worked outside digging holes for various organizations for many summers partly because it just feels good to be active.
But in the end this is all Claire's fault; she's the one that started me going. I think I might be addicted.
---
Is it time for a link-dump? Oh yes!
---
As you read yesterday, the International Space Station turned 10 on Nov. 20, 2008. And today, the most recent addition to the ISS, new machine that converts urine into water, is fully operational. I know that gets me excited about the thrill and romance of space travel!
Joking aside, it's a vital technology for any long-term missions, such as moon settlements or travels to mars.
So, the next time you're supping at the ISS, just remember to forgo the water and stick with the wine. You'd also do well to avoid the meatloaf; you really don't wanna know where that comes from. (Rimshot)
---
Today on his blog, my pal Keith linked to this video about the dangers of the Military Industrial Complex. Funnily enough, both he and I are part of it.
---
An absolutely dead-on presentation about the issues facing the music industry. The presenter rightly points out that worrying about CD sales is idiotic; when consumers and artists are no longer satisfied with the way music is sold, the industry needs to respond to the demand.
Many thanks to long-time pal and former roommate Justin for the heads up on that one. Justin, I had a dream about you last night. In all the dreams I have about you, we end up being pursued by the police.
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