Architecture Doesn't Captivate Me Often (or, Well Done, Perez and Associates)

While I do greatly appreciate architecture and can marvel at it for some time on occasion, it very seldom happens that I find a work of art of that style that has me going back to it over and over again. Chapter 37 of the Humanities textbook presented me with one such piece of art: Piazza d'Italia in New Orleans, designed by Charles Moore.

I don't tend to blow up pictures to huge proportions on here, but I just feel like this deserves it. Taking a look at page 146 in the Humanities book presents a smaller, though somewhat more vibrant, shot. This piece of architecture absolutely exemplifies the Postmodernist manifesto presented in the textbook: "A playful assortment of fragments 'quoted' from architectural traditions as ill-mated as a fast-food stand and a Hellenistic temple." The book also mentions that Postmodernist architecture seeks to dismantle and reassemble in search for meaning.  

Just look at it! There, a piece of a fountain. There, part of a temple with an inscription on it. There, a stairway which will later be lit up with neon lights (check out the last picture in this blog). And, looming behind it all, modern skyscraper, perfect for fitting that 'ill-mated' bit of the theory. To me, this looks like the set to a surreal Fellini film. It embodies the best of Italian architecture, then smashes it up into fragments, and reassembles it into something with an incredible amount of beauty. I hope one day to travel to New Orleans and get to marvel at this in person.