Semester Goal Seven

One of my goals this semester is to use this blog share some information about architecture. This is partially to show that I am capable of blogging about more than just quotidian experiences, partially to showcase my new-found knowledge on the subject, and partially to counteract the large gaps in our country's educational system.

I am trying really hard to become the antithesis of the architectural ego so please do not think I am doing this boastfully. It just turns out that most people have a very limited knowledge of the field. Coming to Cornell I was aware of maybe five architects. I am willing to wager, that if you thought about it you would not be able to name more than three and those three are probably Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, and that guy who did the curvy buildings Spain.

First of all Frank Lloyd Wright has only come up in discussion once at Cornell, and that was as a real life analogue for Howard Roark. From what I can tell Wright is to architecture as Kinkade is to painting. This is not necessarily mean their art is bad, but both were tremendously egotistic and were the first to say that they are the best at what they do. It has been noted that if you called Wright the best American architect, he would have taken offense at the addition of the qualifier "American."

Frank Gehry garners mixed feelings from architects. The general consensus is that Bilbao was a huge success of form but he is far too successful to be liked now. As for Gaudi, well he fits nicely into a lecture about surrealism in architecture so we will keep him.

Anyways, all this is to say that I would like to share some of the things I have been learning with you and you can look forward to that.

Note on the title:
This is one of multiple semester goals. Its placement at number seven does not neccesarily mean there are six that precede it. It is just that this goal is lower on the list than some of the others and a great maxim of my friends is that if you are going to choose a random number, it should always be seven.