I'm going to go right into the slides. And all I'm going to try and prove to you with these slides is that I do just very straight stuff. And my ideas are -- in my head, anyway -- they're very logical and relate to what's going on and problem solving for clients. I either convince clients at the end that I solve their problems, or I really do solve their problems, because usually they seem to like it.
O sa incep direct cu imaginile. Si tot ce voi incerca sa va demonstrez cu ele este ca fac lucruri foarte precise. Iar ideile mele sunt -- cel putin in capul meu -- foarte logice si legate de ceea ce se intampla, incearca sa rezolve problemele clientilor. Fie la sfarsit conving clientii ca le voi rezolva problemele, fie chiar le rezolv problemele, pentru ca de obicei le place.
Let me go right into the slides. Can you turn off the light? Down. I like to be in the dark. I don't want you to see what I'm doing up here.
Si acum sa incep cu imaginile. Puteti sa inchideti lumina? Jos. Imi place sa stau in intuneric. Nu vreau sa vedeti ce fac aici.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
Anyway, I did this house in Santa Monica, and it got a lot of notoriety. In fact, it appeared in a porno comic book, which is the slide on the right.
Asa deci. Am facut o casa in Santa Monica si a devenit foarte cunoscuta. De fapt, a aparut in reviste porno cu benzi desenate, vedeti in imaginea din dreapta.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
This is in Venice. I just show it because I want you to know I'm concerned about context. On the left-hand side, I had the context of those little houses, and I tried to build a building that fit into that context. When people take pictures of these buildings out of that context they look really weird, and my premise is that they make a lot more sense when they're photographed or seen in that space. And then, once I deal with the context, I then try to make a place that's comfortable and private and fairly serene, as I hope you'll find that slide on the right.
Asta e in Venetia. O arat doar pentru ca vreau sa stiti ca me preocupa contextul. In imaginea din stanga, aveam contextul casutelor acelea, si am incercat sa construiesc ceva care sa se potriveasca in context. Cand oamenii fotografiaza acele cladiri in afara contextului, arata foarte bizar, iar parerea mea este ca au mai mult sens cand sunt fotografiate in spatiul lor. Iar apoi, odata ce lucrez cu contextul, incerc sa creez un spatiu confortabil si intim si senin, si sper ca asa vi se va parea imaginea din dreapta.
And then I did a law school for Loyola in downtown L.A. I was concerned about making a place for the study of law. And we continue to work with this client. The building on the right at the top is now under construction. The garage on the right -- the gray structure -- will be torn down, finally, and several small classrooms will be placed along this avenue that we've created, this campus. And it all related to the clients and the students from the very first meeting saying they felt denied a place. They wanted a sense of place. And so the whole idea here was to create that kind of space in downtown, in a neighborhood that was difficult to fit into. And it was my theory, or my point of view, that one didn't upstage the neighborhood -- one made accommodations. I tried to be inclusive, to include the buildings in the neighborhood, whether they were buildings I liked or not.
Apoi am construit o scoala de drept pentru Loyola, in centrul Los Angeles-ului. Eram ingrijorat sa fac un loc unde sa se studieze dreptul. Si inca lucram cu acest client. Cladirea din dreapta sus este in constructie acum. Garajul din dreapta -- structura gri -- va fi daramat in final, si vom construi cateva mici sali de curs de-a lungul acestui bulevard pe care l-am creat, campusul acesta. Si totul s-a raportat la clientii si studentii care de la prima intalnire unde au spus ca simt lipsa unui spatiu. Voiau sa aiba un simt al spatiului. Asa ca ideea a fost sa cream acel tip de spatiu in centrul orasului, intr-un cartier unde era greu sa te acomodezi. Si teoria mea, sau punctul de vedere, era ca nu poti sa fii superior cartierului -- ci sa te acomodezi cu el. Am incercat sa fiu cuprinzator, sa includ cladirile in cartier, fie ca erau cladiri care imi placeau sau nu.
In the '60s I started working with paper furniture and made a bunch of stuff that was very successful in Bloomingdale's. We even made flooring, walls and everything, out of cardboard. And the success of it threw me for a loop. I couldn't deal with the success of furniture -- I wasn't secure enough as an architect -- and so I closed it all up and made furniture that nobody would like.
In anii 60 am inceput sa lucrez cu mobila din hartie si am facut multe lucruri ce au avut succes la Bloomingdale. Am facut chiar si podele, pereti si restul, din placaj. Si succesul pe care l-au avut m-a aruncat intr-o bucla. N-am putut face fata succesului pe care l-a avut mobila -- nu eram un arhitect suficient de sigur -- asa ca am inchis tot si am facut mobila care nu place nimanui.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
So, nobody would like this. And it was in this, preliminary to these pieces of furniture, that Ricky and I worked on furniture by the slice. And after we failed, I just kept failing.
Asa ca nimanui nu i-a placut. Si abia atunci, inaintea acelor piese de mobilier, am inceput eu si Ricky sa lucram cu mobila. Si dupa ce am esuat, eu am continuat sa esuez.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
The piece on the left -- and that ultimately led to the piece on the right -- happened when the kid that was working on this took one of those long strings of stuff and folded it up to put it in the wastebasket. And I put a piece of tape around it, as you see there, and realized you could sit on it, and it had a lot of resilience and strength and so on. So, it was an accidental discovery.
Piesa din stanga, care a dus in final la piesa din dreapta, s-a nascut cand pustiul care lucra la ea a luat una dintre fasiile acelea lungi din material si a indoit-o pentru a o pune in cos. Asa ca o leg cu o panglica, dupa cum puteti vedea, si imi dau seama ca poti sa stai pe ea, ca elastica si rezistenta si asa mai departe. Deci a fost o descoperire accidentala.
I got into fish.
Au inceput sa ma intereseze pestii.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
I mean, the story I tell is that I got mad at postmodernism -- at po-mo -- and said that fish were 500 million years earlier than man, and if you're going to go back, we might as well go back to the beginning. And so I started making these funny things. And they started to have a life of their own and got bigger -- as the one glass at the Walker. And then, I sliced off the head and the tail and everything and tried to translate what I was learning about the form of the fish and the movement. And a lot of my architectural ideas that came from it -- accidental, again -- it was an intuitive kind of thing, and I just kept going with it, and made this proposal for a building, which was only a proposal.
Adica, povestea e ca m-am enervat pe postmodernism si mi-am zis ca pestii au venit cu 500 de milioane mai devreme decat noi si daca ne uitam in urma, putem sa ne intoarcem pana la inceputuri. Asa ca am inceput sa fac aceste lucruri amuzante. Si au inceput sa aiba o viata proprie si sa creasca -- precum in reclama de la Walker. Iar apoi am taiat capul si coada si tot asa, si am incercat sa traduc ce invatam despre forma pestelui si miscarea sa. Si multe dintre ideile legate de arhitectura care s-au nascut din asta -- din nou, accidental -- sunt legate de intuitie, si am mers mai departe cu ele, si am facut o propunere pentru o cladire, o propunere doar.
I did this building in Japan. I was taken out to dinner after the contract for this little restaurant was signed. And I love sake and Kobe and all that stuff. And after I got -- I was really drunk -- I was asked to do some sketches on napkins.
Am facut o cladire in Japonia. M-au scos la cina dupa ce am semnat contractul pentru acest mic restaurant. Si imi plac sake-ul si kobe si tot restul. Si dupa aceea -- eram foarte beat -- mi s-a cerut sa fac niste schite pe servetele.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
And I made some sketches on napkins -- little boxes and Morandi-like things that I used to do. And the client said, "Why no fish?" And so I made a drawing with a fish, and I left Japan. Three weeks later, I received a complete set of drawings saying we'd won the competition.
Si le-am facut -- cutiute si lucruri de genul Morandi, de care faceam eu. Si clientul spune "De ce nu pesti?" Asa ca am facut un desen cu un peste, si am plecat din Japonia. Trei saptamani mai tarziu primesc un set complet de desene care spunea ca am castigat concursul.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
Now, it's hard to do. It's hard to translate a fish form, because they're so beautiful -- perfect -- into a building or object like this. And Oldenburg, who I work with a little once in a while, told me I couldn't do it, and so that made it even more exciting. But he was right -- I couldn't do the tail. I started to get the head OK, but the tail I couldn't do. It was pretty hard. The thing on the right is a snake form, a ziggurat. And I put them together, and you walk between them. It was a dialog with the context again. Now, if you saw a picture of this as it was published in Architectural Record -- they didn't show the context, so you would think, "God, what a pushy guy this is." But a friend of mine spent four hours wandering around here looking for this restaurant. Couldn't find it. So ...
Acum, e greu de pus in practica. E greu sa dai unei cladiri sau altui obiect, forma unui peste pentru ca sunt atat de frumosi, perfecti. Iar Oldenburg, cu care mai lucrez uneori, mi-a spus ca nu voi putea sa o fac, ceea ce m-a entuziasmat si mai mult. Dar avea dreptate, nu am putut face coada. Capul imi iesea bine, dar nu puteam face coada. Era destul de greu. Chestia din dreapta e o forma de sarpe, un zigurat. Si le pun cap la cap si mergi printre ele. A fost, din nou, un dialog cu contextul. Acum, daca vedeati imaginea cladirii publicata in Architectural Record, unde nu au aratat si contextul, ai crede "Doamne, ce tip exagerat". Dar un prieten al meu s-a plimbat patru ore pe acolo cautand restaurantul. Nu l-a putut gasi. Asa ca --
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
As for craft and technology and all those things that you've all been talking about, I was thrown for a complete loop. This was built in six months. The way we sent drawings to Japan: we used the magic computer in Michigan that does carved models, and we used to make foam models, which that thing scanned. We made the drawings of the fish and the scales. And when I got there, everything was perfect -- except the tail. So, I decided to cut off the head and the tail.
in ceea ce priveste tehnica si tehnologia si tot restul despre care a vorbit toata lumea, am fost aruncat intr-un vartej. Aceasta a fost construita in sase luni. Pentru a trimite desenele clientului -- am folosit calculatorul magic din Michigan care face modele sculptate, si am facut modele din spuma pe care le scana apoi computerul ala. Am facut desenele cu pesti si solzi. Si cand am ajuns acolo, totul era perfect -- in afara de coada. Asa ca m-am hotarat sa tai capul si coada.
And I made the object on the left for my show at the Walker. And it's one of the nicest pieces I've ever made, I think. And then Jay Chiat, a friend and client, asked me to do his headquarters building in L.A. For reasons we don't want to talk about, it got delayed. Toxic waste, I guess, is the key clue to that one. And so we built a temporary building -- I'm getting good at temporary -- and we put a conference room in that's a fish.
Si am facut obiectul din stanga pentru expozitia de la Walker. Si cred ca este una din cele mai frumoase creatii ale mele. Iar apoi Jay Chiat, un prieten si client, mi-a cerut sa-i construiesc sediul companiei din LA. Din motive despre care nu dorim sa vorbim, constructia a fost intarziata. Reziduuri toxice, cred, este indiciul cheie in cazul ala. Asa ca am construit o cladire temporara -- incep sa fiu bun la chestii temporare -- si am pus o camera de conferinte in acel peste.
And, finally, Jay dragged me to my hometown, Toronto, Canada. And there is a story -- it's a real story -- about my grandmother buying a carp on Thursday, bringing it home, putting it in the bathtub when I was a kid. I played with it in the evening. When I went to sleep, the next day it wasn't there. And the next night, we had gefilte fish.
Iar in final Jay m-a tarat in orasul meu natal, Toronto, in Canada. Si am o poveste -- una adevarata -- despre bunica mea care a cumparat un crap joia, l-a adus acasa, si l-a pus in casa, asta cand eram copil. M-am jucat cu el seara. Dupa ce m-am trezit, nu mai era acolo. A doua zi am mancat peste umplut.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
And so I set up this interior for Jay's offices and I made a pedestal for a sculpture. And he didn't buy a sculpture, so I made one. I went around Toronto and found a bathtub like my grandmother's, and I put the fish in. It was a joke.
Asa ca am aranjat interiorul asta pentru birourile lui Jay si am facut un piedestal pentru o sculptura. Si el nu a cumparat nicio sculptura, asa ca am facut eu una. M-am dus pe langa Toronto si am gasit o cada ca a bunicii mele si am pus pestele in ea. Era o gluma.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
I play with funny people like [Claes] Oldenburg. We've been friends for a long time. And we've started to work on things. A few years ago, we did a performance piece in Venice, Italy, called "Il Corso del Coltello" -- the Swiss Army knife. And most of the imagery is --
Ma joc cu oameni nostimi precum Oldenburg. Suntem prieteni de mult timp. Si am inceput sa lucram impreuna. Acum cativa ani am facut o piesa in Venetia, Italia, numita "Il Corso del Coltello" -- briceagul elvetian. Si cea mai mare parte din imagini sunt --
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
Claes', but those two little boys are my sons, and they were Claes' assistants in the play. He was the Swiss Army knife. He was a souvenir salesman who always wanted to be a painter, and I was Frankie P. Toronto. P for Palladio. Dressed up like the AT&T building by Claes --
ale lui Claes, dar cei doi baietei sunt copiii mei, si ei erau asistentii lui Claes in piesa. El era briceagul elvetian. Era un vanzator de suveniruri care voise mereu sa fie pictor iar eu eram Frankie P. Toronto. P de la Palladio. Gatit precum cladirea AT&T a lui Claes --
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
with a fish hat. The highlight of the performance was at the end. This beautiful object, the Swiss Army knife, which I get credit for participating in. And I can tell you -- it's totally an Oldenburg. I had nothing to do with it. The only thing I did was, I made it possible for them to turn those blades so you could sail this thing in the canal, because I love sailing.
cu o palarie-peste. Punctul forte al piesei a fost la sfarsit. Acest obiect minunat, briceagul elvetian, pentru care mi-a fost recunoscuta participarea. Si va asigur -- este total Oldeburg. Eu n-am avut nimic de-a face. Tot ce am facut a fost sa fac posibila rotirea acelor elice pentru a putea naviga cu chestia asta pe canal, pentru ca imi place sa navighez.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
We made it into a sailing craft.
L-am transformat într-o ambarcaţiune.
I've been known to mess with things like chain link fencing. I do it because it's a curious thing in the culture, when things are made in such great quantities, absorbed in such great quantities, and there's so much denial about them. People hate it. And I'm fascinated with that, which, like the paper furniture -- it's one of those materials. And I'm always drawn to that. And so I did a lot of dirty things with chain link, which nobody will forgive me for. But Claes made homage to it in the Loyola Law School. And that chain link is really expensive. It's in perspective and everything.
Se ştie că m-am ocupat cu lucruri precum gardul de sârmă. O fac pentru că este un lucru curios în cultură, când lucrurile se fac în cantităţi atât de mari, sunt absorbite în cantităţi atât de mari, şi sunt atât de contestate. Oamenii le urăsc. Şi mă fascinează cu ceea ce, precum mobila din "hârtie" -- este unul din acele materiale. Şi mereu m-au atras. Şi aşa că am făcut o mulţime de lucruri murdare cu sârma împletită, pentru care n-o să mă ierte nimeni vreodată. Dar Claes a acceptat să o folosim la Şcoala de Drept Loyola. Şi sârma aceea împletită e foarte scumpă. E în perspectivă şi aşa mai departe.
And then we did a camp together for children with cancer. And you can see, we started making a building together. Of course, the milk can is his. But we were trying to collide our ideas, to put objects next to each other. Like a Morandi -- like the little bottles -- composing them like a still life. And it seemed to work as a way to put he and I together.
Şi apoi am făcut împreună o tabără pentru copiii cu cancer. După cum puteţi vedea, am început să construim o clădire împreună. Bineînteles, cutia de lapte e a lui. Dar am încercat să ne confruntăm ideile, să punem obiectele unele lângă altele. Precum o pictură de Morandi, ca sticlele acelea mici pictate ca natură moartă. Şi părea că ne leagă pe amândoi.
Then Jay Chiat asked me to do this building on this funny lot in Venice, and I started with this three-piece thing, and you entered in the middle. And Jay asked me what I was going to do with the piece in the middle. And he pushed that. And one day I had a -- oh, well, the other way. I had the binoculars from Claes, and I put them there, and I could never get rid of them after that. Oldenburg made the binoculars incredible when he sent me the first model of the real proposal. It made my building look sick. And it was this interaction between that kind of, up-the-ante stuff that became pretty interesting. It led to the building on the left. And I still think the Time magazine picture will be of the binoculars, you know, leaving out the -- what the hell.
Apoi Jay Chiat mi-a cerut să fac clădirea asta pe un domeniu nostim din Veneţia şi am început cu o clădire cu trei camere în care se intra prin mijloc. Şi Jay m-a întrebat ce aveam să fac cu camera din mijloc. Şi a insistat. Şi într-o zi am avut o -- mă rog, a fost invers. Mi-a dat Claes un binoclu, şi l-am pus acolo, şi de atunci nu am mai scăpat de el. Oldenburg a făcut un binoclu nemaipomenit, când mi-a trimis primul model al propunerii adevărate. Ce a facut ca clădirea mea sa arate bizar. Şi tocmai această interacţiune dintre chestia aia de sus, ce a devenit interesanta. A dus la cladirea din stanga. Inca cred ca fotografia din Time Magazine va fi cu binoclul, stiti, fara restul -- ce naiba.
I use a lot of metal in my work, and I have a hard time connecting with the craft. The whole thing about my house, the whole use of rough carpentry and everything, was the frustration with the crafts available. I said, "If I can't get the craft that I want, I'll use the craft I can get." There were plenty of models for that, in Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, and many artists who were making beautiful art and sculpture with junk materials. I went into the metal because it was a way of building a building that was a sculpture. And it was all of one material, and the metal could go on the roof as well as the walls. The metalworkers, for the most part, do ducts behind the ceilings and stuff. I was given an opportunity to design an exhibit for the metalworkers' unions of America and Canada in Washington, and I did it on the condition that they become my partners in the future and help me with all future metal buildings, etc. etc. And it's working very well to have these people, these craftsmen, interested in it. I just tell the stories. It's a way of connecting, at least, with some of those people that are so important to the realization of architecture.
Folosesc mult metal in munca mea si imi e greu sa stabilesc o legatura cu mestesugul. In ceea ce priveste casa mea, faptul ca folosesc lemnarie bruta si tot restul, e vorba despre frustrarea legata de materialele disponibile. Si am spus : "Daca nu pot sa gasesc materialul pe care il vreau, o sa folosesc ce gasesc". Si existau o multime de modele pentru asta in Rauschenberg si Jasper Johns sau multi alti artisti care faceau o arta si sculpturi impresionante din deseuri. Am ales metalul pentru ca era o metoda de a face o cladire care sa fie o sculptura. Si era toata dintr-un singur material, iar metalul putea fi folosit atat pentru acoperis cat si pentru pereti. Iar cea mai mare parte din muncitorii metalurgi pun conductele in spatele tavanului si tot asa. Am avut sansa de a monta o expozitie pentru sindicatele metalurgice din America si Canada, in Washington, si am facut-o cu conditia ca acestia sa imi devina parteneri in viitor si sa ma ajute cu toate cladirile viitoare din metal, etc etc Si este foarte bine ca toti acesti mestesugari sunt interesati. Eu doar spun povesti. E o un fel a interactiona, cel putin; cu unii dintre acesti oameni atat de importanti in realizarea arhitecturii.
The metal continued into a building -- Herman Miller, in Sacramento. And it's just a complex of factory buildings. And Herman Miller has this philosophy of having a place -- a people place. I mean, it's kind of a trite thing to say, but it is real that they wanted to have a central place where the cafeteria would be, where the people would come and where the people working would interact. So it's out in the middle of nowhere, and you approach it. It's copper and galvanize. I used the galvanize and copper in a very light gauge, so it would buckle. I spent a lot of time undoing Richard Meier's aesthetic. Everybody's trying to get the panels perfect, and I always try to get them sloppy and fuzzy. And they end up looking like stone. This is the central area. There's a ramp.
Metalul a mai fost folosit intr-o cladire - Herman Miller, in Sacramento. Si este un complex de cladiri pentru o fabrica. Iar Herman Miller are filosofia asta de a avea un loc -- un loc pentru oameni. Adica, poate parea un lucru banal, dar este adevarat ca vor sa aiba un loc central unde sa fie cantina, unde sa vina oamenii si unde muncitorii sa interactioneze. Si e in mijlocul nimanui si te apropii. E din cupru si galvanizata. Am folosit cuprul si l-am galvanizat cu finete, ca sa se lege. Am petrecut mult timp incercand sa scap de estetica lui Richard Meier. Toata lumea incearca sa faca cadrele perfecte, si eu mereu incerc sa le fac dezordonate si neclare. Si la sfarsit, arata ca piatra. Asta este zona centrala. Acolo e o rampa.
And that little dome in there is a building by Stanley Tigerman. Stanley was instrumental in my getting this job. And when I was awarded the contract I, at the very beginning, asked the client if they would let Stanley do a cameo piece with me. Because these were ideas that we were talking about, building things next to each other, making -- it's all about [a] metaphor for a city, maybe. And so Stanley did the little dome thing. And we did it over the phone and by fax. He would send me a fax and show me something. He'd made a building with a dome and he had a little tower. I told him, "No, no, that's too ongepotchket. I don't want the tower." So he came back with a simpler building, but he put some funny details on it, and he moved it closer to my building. And so I decided to put him in a depression. I put him in a hole and made a kind of a hole that he sits in. And so then he put two bridges -- this all happened on the fax, going back and forth over a couple of weeks' period. And he put these two bridges with pink guardrails on it. And so then I put this big billboard behind it. And I call it, "David and Goliath." And that's my cafeteria.
Si micul dom de acolo este o cladire a lui Stanley Tigerman. Stanley a fost esential pentru mine ca sa gasesc proiectul asta. Si cand mi s-a acordat contractul, la inceput, l-am intrebat pe client daca il lasa pe Stanley sa faca o piesa cu mine. Pentru ca erau idei despre care discutasem, sa construim cladiri unele langa altele, sa facem -- un fel de metafora a unui oras, poate. Asa ca Stanley a facut micul dom. Si l-am facut la telefon si prin fax. Imi mai trimitea cate un fax si-mi arata ceva. Facuse o cladire cu o bolta si era si avea si un mic turn. I-am spus "Nu, nu, e prea mult. Nu vreau turnul". Asa ca a venit cu o cladire mai simpla, dar a adaugat cateva detalii amuzante si a apropiat-o de cladirea mea. Asa ca m-am hotarat sa-l pun intr-o vale. L-am pus intr-o gaura si am facut un fel de vale in care sta. Si apoi el a adaugat doua poduri -- toate astea prin fax, pe perioada a cateva saptamani. Si a pus acolo doua poduri delimitate de un gard de protectie roz. Si apoi am pus reclama asta mare in spate. Si am numit-o "David si Goliath". Si asta e cantina mea.
In Boston, we had that old building on the left. It was a very prominent building off the freeway, and we added a floor and cleaned it up and fixed it up and used the kind of -- I thought -- the language of the neighborhood, which had these cornices, projecting cornices. Mine got a little exuberant, but I used lead copper, which is a beautiful material, and it turns green in 100 years. Instead of, like, copper in 10 or 15. We redid the side of the building and re-proportioned the windows so it sort of fit into the space. And it surprised both Boston and myself that we got it approved, because they have very strict kind of design guideline, and they wouldn't normally think I would fit them. The detailing was very careful with the lead copper and making panels and fitting it tightly into the fabric of the existing building.
In Boston am avut cladirea aia veche din stanga. Era o cladire foarte impunatoare in afara autostrazii, si am adaugat o podea si am curatat-o si reparat-o si am folosit tipul ala de -- credeam eu -- limbaj al imprejurimilor, care continea cornise care ieseau. A mea a iesit mai extravaganta, dar am folosit aliaj de cupru, un material foarte frumos, care devine verde peste 100 de ani. In loc de cupru, in 10-15 ani. Am refacut partea laterala a cladirii si am reproportionat dimensiunile ferestrelor ca sa se potriveasca in spatiu. Si ne-a surprins si pe mine si pe Boston ca a fost acceptat, pentru ca au un model de design foarte strict, si in mod normal nu ar crede ca sunt bun pentru ei. Am fost foarte atenti cu detaliile din aliajul de cupru la fel si cu confectionarea cadrelor si cum sa le potrivim la fix in materialul cladirii existente.
In Barcelona, on Las Ramblas for some film festival, I did the Hollywood sign going and coming, made a building out of it, and they built it. I flew in one night and took this picture. But they made it a third smaller than my model without telling me.
In Barcelona, pe Las Ramblas pentru un festival de film. Am facut semnul Hollywood venind si plecand, am facut o cladire din el si ei au construit-o. Am luat avionul pana acolo intr-o seara si am facut o poza. Dar ei au facut-o de trei ori mai mica decat modelul meu, fara sa-mi spuna.
And then more metal and some chain link in Santa Monica -- a little shopping center.
Iar apoi mai mult metal si niste lant impletit in Santa Monica -- un mic centru comercial.
And this is a laser laboratory at the University of Iowa, in which the fish comes back as an abstraction in the back. It's the support labs, which, by some coincidence, required no windows. And the shape fit perfectly. I just joined the points. In the curved part there's all the mechanical equipment. That solid wall behind it is a pipe chase -- a pipe canyon -- and so it was an opportunity that I seized, because I didn't have to have any protruding ducts or vents or things in this form. It gave me an opportunity to make a sculpture out of it.
Si aici este un laborator laser din Universitatea din Iowa, in care pestele se intoarce abstractizat, in spate. In laboratoarele care, printr-o coincidenta, nu au nevoie de ferestre. Si forma se potriveste perfect. Am legat doar punctele. In partea curbata se afla echipamentul mecanic. Si zidul acela solid din spate este un spatiu pentru tevi -- o vale pentru tevi -- asa ca a fost o sansa pe care am apucat-o, pentru ca nu aveam tevi care ieseau sau canale de aerisire au lucruri de genul asta. Mi-a permis sa fac o sculptura din cladire.
This is a small house somewhere. They've been building it so long I don't remember where it is. It's in the West Valley. And we started with the stream and built the house along the stream -- dammed it up to make a lake. These are the models. The reality, with the lake -- the workmanship is pretty bad. And it reminded me why I play defensively in things like my house. When you have to do something really cheaply, it's hard to get perfect corners and stuff. That big metal thing is a passage, and in it is -- you go downstairs into the living room and then down into the bedroom, which is on the right. It's kind of like a whole built town.
Asta e o casa micuta pe undeva. Au construit-o demult asa ca nu mai stiu unde e. E in West Valley. Am inceput cu cursul de apa si am construit casa de-a lungul acestuia -- l-am inchis pentru a face un lac. Acestea sunt modelele. Realitatea, cu lacul -- calitatea executiei este destul de slaba. Si mi-a amintit de ce am o atitudine defensiva, cum e cazul casei mele. Cand trebuie sa faci ceva cu bani putini, e greu sa obtii colturi perfecte si asa mai departe. Chestia mare de metal este un pasaj, si in el -- cobori pana in sufragerie si apoi in dormitor, care e la dreapta. E ca un fel de oras intreg.
I was asked to do a hospital for schizophrenic adolescents at Yale. I thought it was fitting for me to be doing that.
Mi s-a cerut sa fac un spital pentru adolescentii schizofrenici la Yale. Si am crezut ca pot sa fac asta.
This is a house next to a Philip Johnson house in Minnesota. The owners had a dilemma -- they asked Philip to do it. He was too busy. He didn't recommend me, by the way.
Asta e o casa langa o casa a lui Philip Johnson din Minnesota. Proprietarii aveau o dilema -- l-au rugat pe Philip sa o faca. El era prea ocupat. Nu m-a recomandat pe mine, apropo.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
We ended up having to make it a sculpture, because the dilemma was, how do you build a building that doesn't look like the language? Is it going to look like this beautiful estate is sub-divided? Etc. etc. You've got the idea. And so we finally ended up making it. These people are art collectors. And we finally made it so it appears very sculptural from the main house and all the windows are on the other side. And the building is very sculptural as you walk around it. It's made of metal and the brown stuff is Fin-Ply -- it's that formed lumber from Finland. We used it at Loyola on the chapel, and it didn't work. I keep trying to make it work. In this case we learned how to detail it.
In final, am facut-o ca o sculptura pentru ca dilema era urmatoarea: cum construiesti o cladire care nu se aseamana limbajului? O sa arate cum e divizata acea proprietate impresionanta? etc, etc. Ati prins ideea. Asa ca in final, am facut-o. Oamenii acestia sunt colectionari de arta. Si am facut-o foarte sculpturala pornind de la casa principala, si toate ferestrele sunt pe cealalta parte. Si casa este foarte sculpturala, pe masura ce te plimbi in jurul ei. E facuta din metal si chestia aia maro este Fin-Ply -- e cherestea formata din Finlanda. Am folosit-o la Loyola, pe capela, si nu a mers. Tot incerc sa o fac sa mearga. In cazul asta am invatat cum sa o folosim.
In Cleveland, there's Burnham Mall, on the left. It's never been finished. Going out to the lake, you can see all those new buildings we built. And we had the opportunity to build a building on this site. There's a railroad track. This is the city hall over here somewhere, and the courthouse. And the centerline of the mall goes out. Burnham had designed a railroad station that was never built, and so we followed. Sohio is on the axis here, and we followed the axis, and they're two kind of goalposts. And this is our building, which is a corporate headquarters for an insurance company. We collaborated with Oldenburg and put the newspaper on top, folded. The health club is fastened to the garage with a C-clamp, for Cleveland.
In stanga e Bumham Mall, in Cleveland. Nu a fost niciodata terminat. Se pot vedea pe langa lac toate cladirile noi pe care le-am construit. Si am avut sansa de a construi o cladire in locul acesta. Aceea este o cale ferata. Pe aici pe undeva este primaria, aici judecatoria. Iar linia de mijloc a centrului comercial iese in afara. Bumham a facut modelul unei gari care nu a fost niciodata construita, asa ca am urmat noi. Sohio e pe aceasta axa, si noi am urmat axa, si sunt ca doua porti de fotbal. Si aceasta este cladirea noastra, sediul unei companiii de asigurari. Am colaborat cu Oldenburg si am pus ziarul in varf, l-am pliat. Clubul de ingrijire a sanatatii este lipit de garaj cu un sistem de prindere in forma de C, de la Cleveland.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
You drive down. So it's about a 10-story C-clamp. And all this stuff at the bottom is a museum, and an idea for a very fancy automobile entry. This owner has a pet peeve about bad automobile entries. And this would be a hotel. So, the centerline of this thing -- we'd preserve it, and it would start to work with the scale of the new buildings by Pelli and Kohn Pederson Fox, etc., that are underway. It's hard to do high-rise. I feel much more comfortable down here.
Mergi in jos. E o clema in forma de C de 10 etaje. Si chestia de dedesubt este un muzeu, si o idee pentru o intrare pentru masini, fantezista. Pe proprietar il enervau intrarile proaste pentru masini. Si asta urma sa fie un hotel. Deci, am pastrat linia de mijloc pentru aceasta cladire, si de aici a pornit modelul cladirilor noi facute de Pelli si Kohn Pederson Fox etc, care sunt in constructie. E greu sa faci cladiri inalte. Ma simt mult mai confortabil aici jos.
This is a piece of property in Brentwood. And a long time ago, about '82 or something, after my house -- I designed a house for myself that would be a village of several pavilions around a courtyard -- and the owner of this lot worked for me and built that actual model on the left. And she came back, I guess wealthier or something -- something happened -- and asked me to design a house for her on this site. And following that basic idea of the village, we changed it as we got into it. I locked the house into the site by cutting the back end -- here you see on the photographs of the site -- slicing into it and putting all the bathrooms and dressing rooms like a retaining wall, creating a lower level zone for the master bedroom, which I designed like a kind of a barge, looking like a boat. And that's it, built. The dome was a request from the client. She wanted a dome somewhere in the house. She didn't care where. When you sleep in this bedroom, I hope -- I mean, I haven't slept in it yet. I've offered to marry her so I could sleep there, but she said I didn't have to do that. But when you're in that room, you feel like you're on a kind of barge on some kind of lake. And it's very private. The landscape is being built around to create a private garden. And then up above there's a garden on this side of the living room, and one on the other side.
Aceasta este o proprietate din Brentwood. Si acum mult timp, prin '82, dupa casa mea -- am proiectat o casa pentru mine, ce avea sa fie un sat de cateva pavilioane in jurul unei curti -- iar proprietarul acestui lot a lucrat pentru mine si a construit modelul din stanga. Iar ea s-a intors, mai instarita sau ceva de genul asta -- ceva se intamplase -- si m-a rugat sa-i proiectez o casa in locul acesta. Si avand in minte ideea aceea de baza de sat, am schimbat-o cand am patruns in el. Am blocat casa in acel loc taindu-i partea de la capat -- puteti vedea aici fotografii de pe santier -- am taiat din ea si am pus toate baile si garderobele ca un zid de sprijin, creand astfel o zona mai joasa pentru dormitorul principal, pe care l-am proiectat ca pe un fel de salupa, aratand ca o barca. Si asta e tot, gata construit. Cupola a fost o cerere din partea clientului. Si-a dorit o cupola undeva in casa. Nu i-a pasat unde. Cand dormi in dormitorul asta, sper -- adica, n-am dormit in el inca. M-am oferit sa ma casatoresc cu ea, ca sa pot astfel dormi acolo, dar mi-a spus ca nu trebuie sa o fac. Cand esti, insa, in camera aceea, simti ca esti pe un fel de salupa pe un lac. Si e foarte intim. Peisajul din jur e construit pentru a crea o gradina privata. Si deasupra e o gradina pe partea aceasta a camerei de zi, si una pe cealalta parte.
These aren't focused very well. I don't know how to do it from here. Focus the one on the right. It's up there. Left -- it's my right.
Acestea nu sunt foarte clare. Nu stiu cum sa fac de aici. Apropie pe cea din dreapta. Acolo sus. Stanga -- e dreapta mea.
Anyway, you enter into a garden with a beautiful grove of trees. That's the living room. Servants' quarters. A guest bedroom, which has this dome with marble on it. And then you enter into the living room and then so on. This is the bedroom. You come down from this level along the stairway, and you enter the bedroom here, going into the lake. And the bed is back in this space, with windows looking out onto the lake. These Stonehenge things were designed to give foreground and to create a greater depth in this shallow lot. The material is lead copper, like in the building in Boston. And so it was an intent to make this small piece of land -- it's 100 by 250 -- into a kind of an estate by separating these areas and making the living room and dining room into this pavilion with a high space in it. And this happened by accident that I got this right on axis with the dining room table. It looks like I got a Baldessari painting for free. But the idea is, the windows are all placed so you see pieces of the house outside. Eventually this will be screened -- these trees will come up -- and it will be very private. And you feel like you're in your own kind of village.
Ma rog, intrii intr-o gradina cu o dumbrava frumoasa. Acolo e camera de zi. Camerele servitorilor. Un dormitor pentru oaspeti, care are cupola cu marmura pe ea. Si apoi intrii in camera de zi si asa mai departe. Acesta e dormitorul. Coborati de la nivelul asta pe scari si intrati in dormitor, aici, in lac. Iar patul este in spate in acest spatiu, cu ferestre ce dau spre lac. Obiectele acestea de tip Stonehenge au fost proiectate pentru a sta in prim plan si a crea o adancime in aceasta portiune fara adancime. Materialul este aliaj de cupru, precum in cladirea din Boston. Si asa a fost intentia de a transforma aceasta mica bucata de pamant -- 100 pe 250 -- intr-un fel de domeniu, separand aceste zone si punand camera de zi si sufrageria in acest pavilion cu mult spatiu in el. Si a fost din intamplare ca am nimerit-o pe aceeasi axa cu masa din sufragerie. Pare ca am primit o pictura de Baldessari pe gratis. Dar ideea e ca toate ferestrele sunt puse astfel incat sa se vada parti din casa in afara. Intr-un final, acestea vor fi ascunse -- vor creste copacii -- si totul va fi foarte intim. Si simti ca esti in propriul tau sat.
This is for Michael Eisner -- Disney. We're doing some work for him.
Asta e pentru Michael Eisner -- Disney. Lucram si pentru el.
And this is in Anaheim, California, and it's a freeway building. You go under this bridge at about 65 miles an hour, and there's another bridge here. And you're through this room in a split second, and the building will sort of reflect that. On the backside, it's much more humane -- entrance, dining hall, etc. And then this thing here -- I'm hoping as you drive by you'll hear the picket fence effect of the sound hitting it. Kind of a fun thing to do.
Iar asta e in Anaheim, California, si este o cladire pe langa autostrada. Treci pe sub podul asta cu vreo suta km la ora si aici e alt pod. Si ai trecut prin camera intr-o milisecunda, iar cladirea va reflecta acest lucru. In partea din spate, e mult mai uman -- intrarea, sala de mese, etc. Si apoi ce-i aici -- sper ca pe masura ce veti conduce veti auzi efectul "gard de tarusi" produs de sunet cand il loveste. Destul de amuzant.
I'm doing a building in Switzerland, Basel, which is an office building for a furniture company. And we struggled with the image. These are the early studies, but they have to sell furniture to normal people, so if I did the building and it was too fancy, then people might say, "Well, the furniture looks OK in his thing, but no, it ain't going to look good in my normal building." So we've made a kind of pragmatic slab in the second phase here, and we've taken the conference facilities and made a villa out of them so that the communal space is very sculptural and separate. And you're looking at it from the offices and you create a kind of interaction between these pieces.
Construiesc o cladire in Basel, Elvetia, o cladire de birouri pentru o companie de mobila. Si ne-am luptat cu imaginea. Acestea sunt studiile initiale, insa ei trebuie sa vanda mobila oamenilor obisnuiti, deci daca cladirea imi iesea prea extravaganta, atunci oamenii ar fi spus "Ei bine, mobila arata bine aici, dar nu o sa arate la fel in cladirea mea normala". Asa ca am facut o parte pragmatica in a doua faza aici, si am luat echipamentul din sala de conferinte si am facut o vila din el astfel incat spatiul comun sa fie sculptural si separat. Si te uiti la el din birouri si se creeaza un fel de interactiune intre aceste camere.
This is in Paris, along the Seine. Palais des Sports, the Gare de Lyon over here. The Minister of Finance -- the guy that moved from the Louvre -- goes in here. There's a new library across the river. And back in here, in this already treed park, we're doing a very dense building called the American Center, which has a theater, apartments, dance school, an art museum, restaurants and all kinds of -- it's a very dense program -- bookstores, etc. In a very tight, small -- this is the ground level. And the French have this extraordinary way of screwing things up by taking a beautiful site and cutting the corner off. They call it the plan coupe. And I struggled with that thing -- how to get around the corner.
Asta e in Paris, de-a lungul Senei. Palais des Sports, Gara Lyon aici. Ministerul de Finante -- tipul care s-a mutat de la Luvru -- vine aici. De cealalta parte a raului este o noua biblioteca. Si aici, in parcul acesta plini de copaci deja, facem o cladire foarte densa numita Centrul American, care are un teatru, apartamente, o scoala de dans, un muzeu de arta, restaurante si tot felul de -- este un proiect foarte compact -- librarii, etc. Intr-un foarte mic, stramt -- aici e nivelul de la sol. Si francezii au stilul asta nemaipomenit de a incurca lucrurile luind un loc frumos si ii taie coltul. O numesc plan coupe - planul taiat. Si m-am luptat cu asta -- cum sa treci dincolo de colt.
These are the models for it. I showed you the other model, the one -- this is the way I organized myself so I could make the drawing -- so I understood the problem. I was trying to get around this plan coupe -- how do you do it? Apartments, etc. And these are the kind of study models we did. And the one on the left is pretty awful. You can see why I was ready to commit suicide when this one was built. But out of it came finally this resolution, where the elevator piece worked frontally to this, parallel to this street, and also parallel to here. And then this kind of twist, with this balcony and the skirt, kind of like a ballerina lifting her skirt to let you into the foyer. The restaurants here -- the apartments and the theater, etc. So it would all be built in stone, in French limestone, except for this metal piece. And it faces into a park. And the idea was to make this express the energy of this. On the side facing the street it's much more normal, except I slipped a few mansards down, so that coming on the point, these housing units made a gesture to the corner. And this will be some kind of high-tech billboard. If any of you guys have any ideas for it, please contact me. I don't know what to do.
Acestea sunt modelele. V-am aratat si celalalt model, cel -- asa m-am organizat pentru a putea face desenul -- asa ca am inteles problema. Incercam sa trec peste acest plan coupe -- cum o faci? Apartamente, etc. Si acestea sunt tipurile de modele de studiu pe care le-am facut. Si cel din stanga e destul de prost. Va puteti da seama de ce am fost gata sa ma sinucid cand a fost construit. Dar din el am obtinut acest rezultat, unde liftul functiona in paralel cu asta, paralel cu strada asta, si paralel cu ce-i aici. Si apoi tipul acesta de rasucire, cu balconul si fusta, cam ca o balerina care isi ridica fusta sa imi permita sa intru in hol. Restaurantele aici -- apartamentele si teatrul, etc. Totul urma sa fie construit din piatra, calcar din Franta, in afara de aceasta incapere din metal. Si da spre un parc. Si ideea de baza era sa o facem sa exprime energia prezenta aici. Pe partea care da spre strada e mai normal, exceptand faptul ca am mai scapat eu niste mansarde, ca sa fiu sincer, casele acestea s-au strambat la colt. Iar asta va fi un fel de panou de afise de inalta tehnologie. Daca are cineva dintre voi vreo idee, va rog contactati-ma. Nu stiu ce sa fac.
Jay Chiat is a glutton for punishment, and he hired me to do a house for him in the Hamptons. And it's got a fish. And I keep thinking, "This is going to be the last fish." It's like a drug addict. I say, "I'm not going to do it anymore -- I don't want to do it anymore -- I'm not going to do it." And then I do it.
Jay Chiat este lacom de pedepse si m-a angajat sa ii fac o casa in Hamptons. Si are un peste. Si ma tot gandesc: "Asta va fi ultimul peste". E ca si cum ai fi dependent de droguri. Imi spun ca n-o s-o mai fac -- nu mai vreau sa o fac -- nu o sa o mai fac. Si apoi o fac.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
There it is. But it's the living room. And this piece here is -- I don't know what it is. I just added it so that we'd have enough money in the budget so we could take something out.
Asta e. Dar este camera de zi. Si camera de aici -- nu stiu ce e. Am adaugat-o ca sa avem destui bani in buget pentru a putea scoate ceva.
(Applause)
(Aplauze)
This is Euro Disney, and I've worked with all of the guys that presented to you earlier. We've had a lot of fun working together. I think I'm from Mars for them, and they are for me, but somehow we all manage to work together, and I think, productively. So far. This is a shopping thing. You come into the Magic Kingdom and the hotel that Tony Baxter's group is doing out here. And then this is a kind of a shopping mall, with a rodeo and restaurants. And another restaurant. What I did -- because of the Paris skies being quite dull, I made a light grid that's perpendicular to the train station, to the route of the train. It looks like it's kind of been there, and then crashed all these simpler forms into it. The light grid will have a light, be lit up at night and give a kind of light ceiling. In Switzerland -- Germany, actually -- on the Rhine across from Basel, we did a furniture factory and a furniture museum.
Aici e EuroDisney, si am lucrat cu toate persoanele pe care le-am prezentat mai devreme. Ne-am distrat lucrand impreuna. Cred ca pentru ei sunt de pe Marte, si ei pentru mine, dar cumva am reusit sa lucram impreuna, si productiv, cred eu. Pana acum. Aici e un centru comercial. Intrii in Regatul Magic si hotelul pe care grupul lui Tony Bater il face aici -- Apoi, asta e un fel de mall, cu un rodeo si restaurante. Inca un restaurant. Ce am facut -- pentru ca cerul Parisului este destul de anost, este o retea de iluminat perpendiculara pe gara, pe mersul trenului. Arata de parca e de acolo, si apoi am incorporat toate formele astea simple in ea. Reteaua va avea lumina, va fi luminata noaptea si va da un fel de tavan luminos. In Elvetia -- de fapt Germania -- pe Rin linga Basel, am facut o fabrica de mobila si un muzeu de mobila.
And I tried to -- there's a Nick Grimshaw building over here, there's an Oldenburg sculpture over here -- I tried to make a relationship urbanistically. And I don't gave good slides to show -- it's just been completed -- but this piece here is this building, and these pieces here and here. And as you pass by it's always part -- you see it as all of these pieces accrue and become part of an overall neighborhood. It's plaster and just zinc. And you wonder, if this is a museum, what it's going to be like inside? If it's going to be so busy and crazy that you wouldn't show anything, and just wait. I'm so cunning and clever -- I made it quiet and wonderful. But on the outside it does scream out at you a bit. It's actually basically three square rooms with a couple of skylights and stuff. And from the building in the back, you see it as an iceberg floating by in the hills. I know I'm over time. See, that skylight goes down and becomes that one. So it's pretty quiet inside.
Si am incercat -- aici e o cladire a lui Nick Grimshaw, acolo o sculptura a lui Oldenburg -- am incercat sa construiesc o relatie din punct de vedere urban. Si nu am poze bune care sa arate -- abia a fost terminata -- dar aici este cladirea, si ce-i aici si aici. Si cand treci pe acolo e mereu -- o vezi ca si cum toate obiectele se maresc si devin parte dintr-un cartier. E ipsos si zinc. Si te intrebi, daca asta e un muzeu, cum o sa fie inauntru? Daca o sa fie atat de aglomerat si nebunesc incat n-o sa expui nimic, ci doar sa astepti. Sunt atat de destept si viclean -- l-am facut linistit si nemaipomenit. Dar pe exterior, e putin tipator. Practic, are trei camere patrate cu cateva lucarne. Si din cladirea din spate, o vezi ca si cum ar fi un inceberg care pluteste pe dealuri. Stiu ca am depasit timpul. Vedeti, fereastra aceea coboara si devine cealalta. E destul de calm inauntru.
This is the Disney Hall -- the concert hall. It's a complicated project. It has a chamber hall. It's related to an existing Chandler Pavilion that was built with a lot of love and tears and caring. And it's not a great building, but I approached it optimistically, that we would make a compositional relationship between us that would strengthen both of us. And the plan of this -- it's a concert hall. This is the foyer, which is kind of a garden structure. There's commercial at the ground floor. These are offices, which, really, in the competition, we didn't have to design. But finally, there's a hotel there. These were the kind of relationships made to the Chandler, composing these elevations together and relating them to the buildings that existed -- to MOCA, etc.
Aici e Disney Hall -- sala de concerte. E un proiect complicat. Are un amfiteatru. Are legatura cu un pavilion Chandler construit deja, cu multa dragoste si lacrimi si atentie. Nu e o cladire mareata, dar am fost optimist in ceea ce o priveste, anume ca o sa avem o relatie de integrare care ne-ar fi intarit pe amandoi. Si planul acesteia -- e o sala de concerte. Aici e foaierul, un fel de structura gradina. La parter e spatiu comercial. Aici sunt birouri, pe care, in cadrul competitiei, nu a trebuit sa le proiectam. Si in final, aici e hotelul. Asta e tipul de relatii stabilite cu Chandler, compunerea acestor inaltimi si faptul ca le-am legat de cladirile care existau -- de MOCA de exemplu, etc.
The acoustician in the competition gave us criteria, which led to this compartmentalized scheme, which we found out after the competition would not work at all. But everybody liked these forms and liked the space, and so that's one of the problems of a competition. You have to then try and get that back in some way. And we studied many models. This was our original model. These were the three buildings that were the ideal -- the Concertgebouw, Boston and Berlin. Everybody liked the surround. Actually, this is the smallest hall in size, and it has more seats than any of these because it has double balconies. Our client doesn't want balconies, so -- and when we met our new acoustician, he told us this was the right shape or this was the right shape. And we tried many shapes, trying to get the energy of the original design within an acoustical, acceptable format. We finally settled on a shape that was the proportion of the Concertgebouw with the sloping outside walls, which the acoustician said were crucial to this and later decided they weren't, but now we have them.
Acusticianul ne-a oferit criteriile care au condus la aceasta schema compartimentata, care, dupa competitie, am aflat ca nu ar fi mers deloc. Dar tuturor le-au placut aceste forme si spatiul, asa ca asta e una din problemele unei competitii. Trebuie apoi sa incerci sa recuperezi cumva acel lucru. Si am studiat multe modele. Acesta a fost modelul nostru original. Acestea au fost cele trei cladiri care erau ideale -- Concertgebouw, Boston si Berlin. Tuturor le-a placut ambianta. De fapt, aceasta e cea mai mica sala, si are mai multe locuri decat oricare alta, pentru ca are balcoane duble. Clientul nostru nu vrea balcoane, asa ca -- si cand l-am intalnit pe noul acustician, ne-a spus ca aceea era forma potrivita, or aceea era forma potrivita. Si am incercat multe forme, incercand sa obtinem energia modelului original intr-un format acustic si acceptabil. Ne-am hotarat in final pentru o forma cam de marimea salii Concertgebouw, cu peretii exteriori in panta, despre care acusticianul a spus ca erau cruciali si apoi a decis ca nu erau, dar acum ii avem.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
And our idea is to make the seating carriage very sculptural and out of wood and like a big boat sitting in this plaster room. That's the idea. And the corners would have skylights and these columns would be structural. And the nice thing about introducing columns is they give you a kind of sense of proscenium from wherever you sit, and create intimacy. Now, this is not a final design -- these are just on the way to being -- and so I wouldn't take it literally, except the feeling of the space. We studied the acoustics with laser stuff, and they bounce them off this and see where it all works. But you get the sense of the hall in section. Most halls come straight down into a proscenium. In this case we're opening it back up and getting skylights in the four corners. And so it will be quite a different shape.
Si ideea noastra este sa facem tot cadrul scaunelor foarte sculptural, din lemn si asemeni unei barci in mjlocul acestei camere de ipsos. Asta e ideea. Iar colturile ar avea lucarne iar aceste coloane ar fi structurale. Si lucrul interesant despre introducerea coloanelor e ca iti dau un fel de impresie de avanscena de oriunde ai sta, si creeaza intimitate. Acum, asta nu e desenul final -- acestea sunt pe cale sa fie -- asa ca nu as lua-o de buna, in afara de sentimentul de spatiu. Am studiat acustica cu chestii laser, si le resping pe toate si vedem unde merge. Dar intelegi amfiteatrul abia in sectiune. Cele mai multe dintre acestea o iau in jos spre o avanscena. In cazul acesta, il deschidem in spate si punem lucarne in cele patru colturi. Asa ca o sa aiba o forma diferita.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
The original building, because it was frog-like, fit nicely on the site and cranked itself well. When you get into a box, it's harder to do it -- and here we are, struggling with how to put the hotel in. And this is a teapot I designed for Alessi. I just stuck it on there. But this is how I do work. I do take pieces and bits and look at it and struggle with it and cut it away. And of course it's not going to look like that, but it is the crazy way I tend to work.
Cladirea originala, pentru ca semana cu o broasca, s-a potrivit perfect si s-a strecurat la fix. Cand esti intr-o cutie, e mai greu sa o faci -- si iata-ne, gandindu-ne cum sa integram hotelul. Iar acesta e un ceainic pe care l-am desenat pentru Alessi. L-am infipt acolo, pur si simplu. Dar asa lucrez eu. Iau bucati si bucatele si ma uit la ele si ma lupt cu ele si le resping. Si bineinteles ca nu o sa arate asa, dar e felul nebunesc in care tind sa lucrez.
And then finally, in L.A. I was asked to do a sculpture at the foot of Interstate Bank Tower, the highest building in L.A. Larry Halprin is doing the stairs. And I was asked to do a fish, and so I did a snake.
Si apoi, in final, in L.A., mi s-a cerut sa fac o sculptura la baza Interstate BAnk Tower, cea mai inalta cladire din L.A.. Larry Halprin face scarile. Si mi s-a cerut sa fac un peste, asa ca am facut un sarpe.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
It's a public space, and I made it kind of a garden structure, and you can go in it. It's a kiva, and Larry's putting some water in there, and it works much better than a fish.
E un spatiu public, si i-am facut o structura tip gradina, si poti sa intrii. E un loc de rugaciune si Larry pune putina apa acolo si merge mai bine decat un peste.
In Barcelona I was asked to do a fish, and we're working on that, at the foot of a Ritz-Carlton Tower being done by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. And the Ritz-Carlton Tower is being designed with exposed steel, non-fire proof, much like those old gas tanks. And so we took the language of this exposed steel and used it, perverted it, into the form of the fish, and created a kind of a 19th-century contraption that looks like, that will sit -- this is the beach and the harbor out in front, and this is really a shopping center with department stores. And we split these bridges. Originally, this was all solid with a hole in it. We cut them loose and made several bridges and created a kind of a foreground for this hotel. We showed this to the hotel people the other day, and they were terrified and said that nobody would come to the Ritz-Carlton anymore, because of this fish.
In Barcelona mi s-a cerut sa fac un peste, si am lucrat la proiect la baza turnului Ritz-Carlton, facut de Skidmore, Owings si Merrill. Iar turnul Ritz-Carlton e proiectat cu otel neacoperit, care nu e impotriva incendiilor, ca si rezervoarele alea vechi de combustibil. Asa ca am luat limbajul otelului expus si l-am folosit, l-am schimbat, in forma unui peste si am creat un fel de dracie de secolul XIX care arata ca, care o sa se aseze, asta e plaja si portul din fata, si asta chiar e un centru comercial cu magazine. Si am impartit podurile. Initial, asta era solid si avea o deschizatura. Le desfacem si facem cateva poduri si cream un fel de prim plan pentru hotel. Le-am aratat asta oamenilor de la hotel zilele trecute si au fost oripilati, au spus ca nu va mai veni nimeni la Ritz-Carlton din cauza pestelui.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
And finally, I just threw these in -- Lou Danziger. I didn't expect Lou Danziger to be here, but this is a building I did for him in 1964, I think. A little studio -- and it's sadly for sale. Time goes on.
Si in final, am aruncat astea inauntru -- Lou Danziger. Nu ma asteptam ca Lou Daniger sa fie aici, dar asta e o cladire pe care am facut-o pentru el in 1964, cred. Un mic studio -- din pacate e scos la vanzare. Timpul trece.
And this is my son working with me on a small fast-food thing. He designed the robot as the cashier, and the head moves, and I did the rest of it. And the food wasn't as good as the stuff, and so it failed. It should have been the other way around -- the food should have been good first. It didn't work.
Si aici e fiul meu care lucreaza cu mine pentru o chestie mica fast-food. El a proiectat robotul-casier, si capul i se misca, iar eu am facut restul. Iar mancarea nu a fost la fel de buna ca restul, asa ca a esuat. Ar fi trebuit sa fie invers -- mancarea sa fie prima buna. N-a mers.
Thank you very much.
Va multumesc foarte mult.