Redevoloping Lille

The Residence

The Industry

The Wall

--

A charrette on a rainy day takes our tiny but neatly organized group to the outskirts of Lille. We are to redefine the boarders which exist in the abstract ideas of the city planners to create a new identity of the space. Bridging the canal to the historical defense wall is plan one. To do so, a mere excavation of the wall must be done. This shall open a wondrous space past the highway to prey on the landscape.

--"Like a foundation island between the Bay Bridge 

this space becomes a bridge for the river, the trees and the wall."--

Taste

A Morning Pain

A crepe or baguette

Brasserie et Vittel

Shrimp

Spaghetti agli olio e peperoncino

A Subtle City of Creme and Green

Upon a Wall

The City Sits

To Bridge Between Nature

And the Architecture Within

To Collect

To Escape

--

The City of Stone lives upon a micro pedestal looking down beneath the depth of the forests. Luxembourg surely captivated its audience by the sheer loveliness of tiers and towers. The city sits delicately within gardens, trees and the greater landscape. I find the subtle architecture to be immaculately powerful. Designing a building to let the entire surrounding lands, the people and the paths intermingle and present the whole as something to aspire towards. There is a blatant disregard for pure decoration but rather letting nature transcend the the architecture. In our post-modern society we have learned to design a standard building that may plop any place. This sort is lukewarm. This typology is meaningless and empty. 

Architecture requests the site be perfect as much as the building itself. Mise-en-scène. Everything in totality. The experience is supernatural and organic. Of course I am in love with the organic nature of architecture and landscaping, so Luxembourg was a great place to view. Entirely shaped around the cliffs, the architecture naturally clings to. The paths roll up and down like ships in the ocean. The river twists and turns under gorgeous Roman bridges and under castle towers. The city is romantic and unadulterated. The city is very clean. I believe it to be the largest gated community in existence. A true delight to view in person. 

The obtuse interest I have in the city though is the livability aspect. It is of course an antique. But adventuring through the remains of old battle scared buildings, I find homes with real residencies. They live, work and play in this interesting area. The city seems worn with use as well. It is not polished and treasured as an object in a glass case but rather a favorite gardening shovel. The city is alive and well.

--

A Bath House of Roubaix

Roubaix--a textiled city of the working class--sits knitted with the finest. A sub-Lille post focused deeply with a more traditional life style houses a wonderful museum. The rebirth of a "Bains Municipaux" forms a lovely bath scenery to express their art collection. The bath seems to come forth from the 1920's Grecian Revival. The quaint golden sun, Marble statues and mineral water plays with your senses. This lovely building indeed shows the little pockets of wealth a city can hold. 

Roubaix

Gare

Baths

Grecian Sculptures

Happenstance

People

Pouvez-vous me donner quelque chose contre le mal de mer?

Je avoir fumeurs?

?

Gouda et Baguette

--Less busy but a rather interesting day of presentations. Presenting on the characteristics of Lille France and the obtuse interests it carries.--

1. The city is held by a dense four to six story cavern 

of buildings designed in a hybridized Flemish and Rococo 

French stylized architecture.

2. The city is full of youth being a large college city.

3. Everyone smokes.

A nice baguette, 

Gouda cheese 

and a sit-read 

shall relax 

the ever present 

stress of a stress-less day.

Trying to Evoke Emotion

The Great Ghosts of Old

Shine Light of Glory Upon

To make the Same Bright as Day

--

I have been sitting silently in a Cathedral for nearly an hour. The gargantuan columns protrude like obelisks towards the heavens. They are trees that seek to find roots within the ceiling. The columns are cold and heavy. They are daunting and strong. They stand waiting for a craftsman to gently observe and feel the delicate nature of the beast. The columns connect to the four-part vaulting. Riding the ridge across the blanket that looms over the souls below, the simple stones clasp each other as to hold in place. They fight not to fall from the ceiling.

I have been sitting silently in a Cathedral evoking my emotional connection with France. Nothing happens. There seems to be a heavy wall between my psyche and my consciousness. I am unable to experience the whole; the totality of the situation. I long for a connection. A deeper feeling than that of my design state. I try to consume the environment like the baguette I had earlier. Nothing seems to work well. Nothing stirs.

I am floating in a dream. I am in a surreal moment. A moment of progress I am unable to change or remove. It is a memory without my mind present. I seem to be dragging my body through the city without a sense of place, time or relation. It is surreal. In a few moments I may feel it.

I have been sitting silently in my room now for nearly five minutes. A bell from the local church rings violently across the courtyards below. It suddenly strikes emotion. I feel a connection in my bones. I am here in France. I am here living a separate life. This is a majestic moment for myself--a moment of emotion and experience.

This is architecture. 

This is phenomenology. 

This is the power a design 

can muster and bring a floating soul 

right down to a moment of experience. 

Do not forget to shape the world through experience. 

--

Grotto

Still and Calm

Calls the Water from Beneath

To Rise Again Summer's Eve

 --

By wonderful happenstance I came across a lovely Grotto today. Made from cast concrete and steel reinforcements; it is a great example of old architecture. An interesting sample indeed, for France has little use for English Gardens. This being excessively naturalistic, it felt quaint to be around. With the unfortunate weather currently there is ice instead of water and bare branches instead of leaves. In a month or so it may change. I shall keep hope for the Grotto is but a hearts leap away.

--

de l'architecture à Paris

Art, Architecture and Walls

Masterful Louvre

Enter

Layers

Frames among many

Battle

Les Illusion Perdue by Charles Gleyre

--

The hegemony of Au Louve can not forsake a mere soul who beckons to study within. To be apart of a toppling collection of master works--some 30 ft tall--bears nails on your back. You see their prestige. You feel it. But can one gain this stature? I can only imagine what time was put forth to craft these marvelous pieces. For every piece is pure time. It is a part of the artist--a piece of their being. They remove a piece of their creative passion and placed it meticulously upon a medium.

Sunday the first of each month is a day for all Parisians to enjoy life in a city of Art. This is a free experience. The public gains access to outstanding wonders of the world. A gift one normally can not obtain. Mountains of pilgrims flock through the city, ready to soak in the world.

Notre Dame de Paris is a spectacle of the mind and soul. The majestic interior can only be held by the monumental exterior. Huge in mass but light in density, the structure reaches to the heavens. A small glimpse into a candle lit interior and coral sung tunes space brings tears to the eyes. It is captivating.

--