PKids & I.M. Pei

[PDog]

Hey all.
I'm just sitting here, waiting for people to finish making stuff
so I can trash it (ain't QA grand ;-), and I got to thinking...
(you didn't smell the smoke pouring out from the East coast?)

How are Poster Children songs like I.M. Pei buildings? For those
who are not familiar with Mr. Pei's genius, he is a Chinese born
architect turned U.S. citizen who has designed such incredible
buildings as the National Gallery of Art's East Wing (right here
DC. I touched the same corner of the building as he did! Thought
I picked up a vibe), the addition to the Louvre, the Dallas Symphony
Hall, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, et al. His genius is in
pushing the limits of form and structure to meet function in a
way that more resembles sculpture than most "types" of architecture
(Pei only believes in architecture, not in schools or styles
thereof). His buildings are all very unique and cannot be lumped
into any school, thus proving his own point by doing rather than
by talking. He routinely breaks new ground in engineering when
erecting a new building in order to meet his vision for a particular
project. For the Louvre addition he used tension wires in a
unique way to support a huge glass pyramid in what used to be an
unused square above an old bureaucratic parking garage. In Hong
Kong he figured out how to build an extra tall skyscraper,
revolutionary in design, too, by distributing the weight from
the narrow top down to the wider, four-cornered base, so that it
could withstand very high winds and earthquakes.

The whole point of this is that he packs maximum wallop into a
building while keeping it structurally sound and making it look
awesome. I find the same thing in Poster Children songs.
They're crafted, sleek, elegant, yet blow you away without falling
apart.

Just a new way of thinking about one of our favorite bands :-)

Thanks for reading this far.
PDog out.

^. .^
v ----"Woof!"
<><><>

PS - If it hasn't aired already, PBS just started showing a new
90 minute documentary about Pei called "First Person Singular -
I.M. Pei". Definitely check it out. You can buy it, too.

[ro...@prairienet.org]

Hey, Tony, we watched the same documentary as you did! Last time
we were in Cleveland, we had the great fortune of getting
terribly lost outside the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. It had
just opened. The roads were all closed and going off into
weird directions; each time we looked up, we were driving
right outside the Hall. In fact, we (as well as the other band
we were playing with) were going to go to the Hall of Fame but
then we heard it cost $12 to go in. The other band (I can't
remember their name right now) said they stopped by and went
to the bathroom inside the building. I guess that was free.

I thought I.M.Pei did a building in Orlando, at Epcot Center,
but they didn't mention that in the show.

We should have a "favorite buildings" string. 45 minutes away
from us is the Dana House, built by Frank Lloyd Wright, but we
have never been inside.
:rose

[Matthew Miller]

On 7 Mar 97 06:08:46 GMT, ro...@prairienet.org <ro...@prairienet.org> wrote:
>We should have a "favorite buildings" string. 45 minutes away
>from us is the Dana House, built by Frank Lloyd Wright, but we
>have never been inside.

I like Frank Lloyd Wright a lot. The Oak Park neighborhood in Chicago is
amazing -- it has like 50 of his buildings. His home/studio is really really
cool. I haven't slept for days and have no business writing messages. Must
go sleep now.

[ro...@prairienet.org]

I was going to start talking about The Fountainhead, but I think
I won't. Have you all read it? Something in the I.M. Pei biography
made me think of Howard Roarke again...

[PDog]

I have and I am interested to hear what you have to say. Not that
I'm a big Ayn Rand freak (although my library belies that claim!). I'll admit
I enjoyed her fiction on a lot of levels, esp. back in high school.

C'mon Rose, spit it out (you can mail me if you'd like).

PDog out.

^. .^
v ----"Woof!"

U
<><><>

[david gehrig]

We've talked about this before, Rose, but IMHO (harrumph) --

"The Fountainhead" is THE WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ IN MY LIFE,
and not for lack of some mighty stiff competition. For every good
point about the primacy of the artist as individual, there's
twenty pages of crap about public housing, unions, and the
bastardization of Rachmaninov's music. GAAAAH. Get yer finger out
of my eye, Miss Rand; I got your drift thirty pages ago.

Seems her basic point is that there is no such thing as a truly
creative team effort. I'd argue that her point is disproven by the
existence of -- say -- the Poster Kids.

BTW, I've never seen the Dana Thomas House either, and I live here
(uh, not in the Dana Thomas House, but you know what I mean.)

@%<