In a shambling, unfocussed, and entirely inconsistent bid to Get Out More, and Do Stuff I Wouldn't Normally Do And Perhaps Get Inspired I decided to go to this talk, called Pecha Kucha. The idea is to present a number of speakers: each one has 20 images, and has 20 seconds for each image.
The one I went to covered West Coast Modernist Architecture. Everything I know enough about architecture could fit in a extra small fortune cookie. I think natural light might be important. I.M. Pei? Is that close to something that might be architecturally related? Arches, I'm sure, feature in some way.
It turns out that West Coast Modernist is all about clean lines, large, large windows, and a blurring between nature and living space. Also, what was unspoken but all too well understood, is that the only people who can ever experience it first hand, on a daily basis, are the sort people who have a passionate interest in capital gains tax and actually know what the hell a Turks and Caicos is.
We're all sitting there, admiring amazing houses and people's thoughts on these houses and the movements behind them and there is that idea floating around, unspoken. Most people in the room can't even afford a Vancouver Special let alone some delightful structure which features more philosophical thought and aesthetic attention than a well-funded private liberal arts college. Vancouver is famously (if only in Vancouver) ill-affordable? Unaffordable? It's damn hard to buy real estate here.
It seems it'd be a much better talk if it focussed on architecture in public spaces. The sorts of things that affect everyone's quality of life. But, then again, Pecha Kucha was first created for architects to talk shop with other architects.
It was a great night, nevertheless, some great speakers, some ... speakers who perhaps got a spot because of personal connections or a vast file of unpublishable photos of the director of Pecha Kucha and a small arctic hare. I'm not sure. The quality was a little erratic but overall, it was interesting.
Two thumbs up, would likely break my self-imposed cocoon of hermetic anti-social behaviour to go again.
1 comment:
Post a Comment