Edifício do MoMA, Museu de Arte Moderna de Nova Iorque. Arquitetos Edward Durrell Stone e Philip Goodwin, 1938-1939
Foto Nicolás Sica Palermo
NS: How do you see the architecture currently practiced by the leading architectural firms in the U.S? Can we say they are building a new architecture? Could we believe that a new architectural discipline is emerging?
KF: Certain architects currently practicing in North America display a particular penchant for landscape form, craft production, material articulation and a particular strong awareness of the importance of local climate and light, as showed during seminar in Columbia, which you referred before, featuring the work of five North American architects; three in the US – Steven Holl, Rick Joy and Stanley Saitowitz and two from Canada—Patkau Architects from Vancouver and Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe practicing out of Toronto (9).
NS: The U.S. was one of the countries that produced high-quality modern architecture. I am talking about the architecture commonly built in this country between the 50’s and the 70’s. During the 70’s, American architecture was very important for the development of the ideas of post-modernism. Some professionals identify a new "style", which currently exists in the U.S called “contemporary architecture”. This is strongly supported by the use of new materials and advanced technologies. Could we consider that there is indeed a new "movement" established by this architecture?
KF: Many of your questions seems to anticipate that in one way or another we are due for the creation of a ‘new architecture’ comparable to the totally new episteme projected by progressive architects over the year 1920-40. I hardly think that is going to happen. We may say that with the advent of Neo-Classicism around 1750 a new language was introduced which would serve as the normative civic style in Europe for 80 years at least. So called ‘modern architecture’ was an equally abrupt change, and has endured just as long and since it was more open-ended a manner from the outset it will surely endure as a modus for the unfinished modern project for even longer.
NS: Talking about these technological advances, do you think current U.S. architecture properly connects construction and technique to design and architectural project?
KF: It is a significant and somewhat inexplicable fact that there has been no ‘hi-tech’ movement in the US comparable to what was achieved by Norman Foster, Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano and from this point of view we may say that both the US building industry and US architects are somewhat retarditaire in this regard.
note
9
Frampton, Kenneth. Five North American Architects: An Anthology. Lars Müller Publishers GmbH (In cooperation with Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University): New York, 2011. 160 p.
