It can be a creepy experience being in a modern tall building. By "tall" I mean five stories or more. Because the kind of modernism I mean, and one that's still pretty dominant in architecture, opposes all outer ornament. That includes ledges. If for any reason you go outside the window, there's nothing for you but a straight drop and "splat!"
Of course these windows aren't supposed to open. Everyone is supposed to be inside, protected by all that stone, steel, and glass. Well, one hopes, anyway.
2 comments:
It appears that coincidentally you and J.M. Greer are on the same page about the subject of how we're negatively affected by the built environment. In answer to your remarks about modern tall buildings he had this to say:
The standard architectural forms used by corporate and government bureaucracies are images of domination. The faces they turn to the world outside are blank, sterile, and forbidding, a rejection of human scale and human interaction given physical form in glass, steel, and concrete.
In a series of posts he's written about Situationism* Greer mentioned the word 'fnord' (only vaguely familiar so I looked it up). A 'fnord' is a term originating from the 1965 Principia Discordia and popularized by The Illuminatus! Trilogy, referring to a hidden word or symbol used to generate fear, confusion, or misinformation in mass media, often associated with, and invisible to, the "unilluminated". It is commonly used in online subculture to represent hidden, irritating, or surreal information.
This one's long but it's far more entertaining even in bits and pieces than reading the Anarchist Library (which you can do if you want).
https://hyperallergic.com/an-illustrated-guide-to-guy-debords-the-society-of-the-spectacle/
The blog post was inspired by a time in the past few weeks when I sat in a government office on a relatively high floor. Right in front of a window, which is usually a good thing, but kind of gave me vertigo.
But I have read that Greer post as well. He makes a lot of good points. Government and business now seem to have been built as monuments to their own grandeur. A mere citizen or consumer coming to them with things they need done can be turned away with barely even a thought.
I know fairly little about Situationism, beyond what JMG has written about it. Malcolm McLaren was apparently into it around the time he put the Sex Pistols together, but he might have just liked talking about it in interviews. As for Discordianism, it's a little surprising to find out that it dates at least as far back as 1965. But much information is indeed troubling, since it comes from outside our frame of reference.
That's an interesting article on Debord. I love the illustration of a girl taking a selfie, oblivious to the bear walking behind her.
Post a Comment