Architecture is Awesome #18: Evanescent Ruins

The New Hayward Field under construction (photo by me)

This is another in my series of posts inspired by 1000 Awesome Things, the Webby Award winning blog written by Neil Pasricha. The series is my meditation on the awesome reasons why I was and continue to be attracted to the art of architecture. 

There is a phase during the construction of new buildings when I imagine them being the ruins they might one day become, objects of venerable decay rather than new symbols of optimism and progress. The fleeting charm of this phase is only present as the naked structures rise, as transient as the blooming of cherry blossoms; however, rather than the ephemeral vitality of the blossoms, their charm resides in their resemblance to the enduring remains of ancient civilizations. Whether the new buildings ever actually become aesthetically pleasing and durable ruins is immaterial.

Roman Forum (photo by Carla Tavares, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Internal View of the Atrium of the Portico of Octavia, from the Views of Rome by Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Architects and historians since the Renaissance have romanticized the notion of ruins, so I suppose I follow in their footsteps. The 18^th century Italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi was famous for his fantastical etchings, many of which depicted the ruins of Imperial Rome as metaphors for the imperfection and transience of human existence. Conversely, Louis Kahn contributed his notions of permanence, materiality, and memory to modern architecture. As architectural historian Vincent Scully wrote, Kahn wanted to “deal with beginnings—with the primeval reality of architecture as physical mass.”

Acropolis, Athens - pastel sketch by Louis Kahn; 1951

Kahn believed that to create a work of architecture you need to picture it as a ruin. I suspect most architects today don’t always have this in mind, particularly imagining how similar to ancient remains their buildings might appear during construction. Nevertheless, I enjoy imagining works in progress as poetic ruins when I visit them at the right moment. With all the construction activity underway here in Eugene, there are plenty of opportunities to do just that.

Eugene Civic Park under construction (my photo)

The Market Expansion under construction (my photo)

I enjoy being an architect for many reasons. One of them is having an expansive capacity to engage in flights of fancy, which allows me to associate what is patently unfinished with the sublime, lasting, and AWESOME monuments of the past.

Next Architecture is Awesome:  #19 Every Day is Different