Nostalgart Article 33

Nostalgia: a sentimental longing or wishful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations

Greek roots,  meaning homecoming and pain

I don't know if it's the rain (It's a cold, damp miserable day and I'm stuck indoors with some free time on my hands writing this article) or if it's the old time shows I'm watching on YouTube like the 1960's game show, "What's my Line" making me nostalgic and reminding me how things once were. On that show in particular everyone is fashionably dressed. Mrs. Francis even wears a Tiara for kicks. The rest of the panel is very well spoken and sharp as a tack. The architecture of the time was that of Frank Lloyd Wright and his Guggenheim Museum and the era of the The Fountainhead. I'm not old enough to remember those times nor do I have any personal connection to that past but I am nostalgic for it, I think. Could this feeling I have be classified as nostalgia even though I have as the definition goes no personal associations with it? Of course but that time period I mentioned is making me nostalgic on a professional level -nostalgic for an idealistic way of life for an architect and architecture. I'm not suggesting we go back to the past and design architecture with nostalgia in mind, nor should we because it's just not progress even though we do this all the time with Neo-Classical or any home built in the United States that's not modern or alternative. Suppose we re-classify the term nostalgia with an architectural twist; a "longing to that which was done with integrity, style and creativity?"  Let's not forget that the typical suburban home , strip mall and sub-division are modern inventions. Prior to this phenomenon architects created homes rather than copied them as we do now. It was the builder and homeowner that used the past and copied them verbatim to compensate for their lack of architectural knowledge. In other words you did not need an architect to copy a Federal style home, now you do simply because code calls for it. So the nostalgia I'm referring to is a time when architects were architects not template designers. How dare I say such a thing you may say, since by implication I'm asserting today's architecture is not of quality! That's exactly what I'm saying, for the most part anyway. Eckhart Tolle said it best (Paraphrasing-See My About page)) " Never in the history of the world has so much garbage architecture been produced." I'm not going to build a case for that statement nor defend it but my guess is that most of what we are producing currently (architecture and otherwise) will not warrant the protection we give things of value. - Go ahead give landmark protection status to the millions of strip malls or vinyl sided homes!  If you're reading this article and just graduated college, you need nostalgia. I will be presumptuous in saying you think you're gods gift to architecture, and you may be until you start designing your first laundry mat or sub-division home. You will quickly be "nostalgic" for your college days where you designed the greatest and most creative architecture on earth! Now maybe I have your attention? However, I may have missed my opportunity with you and it's a few years later since you graduated college, you now rationalize designing bathroom additions as a noble cause and someone has to do it. The only difference between you and those that understand the concept of "architectural nostalgia" is that of suffering; knowing the difference between mediocrity and greatness in the most intimate of ways. There is a classic scene in the animated film Ratatouille where an imposing super rigid food critic comes to the restaurant to once again to wield his powers of "critique destruction" (sounds like I'm back in architecture school) but is instead after tasting his dish is transported back in time to his youth and is delighted beyond all measure...

If you're looking for architecture to inspire or have more meaning than it does today you may want to recapture the "glory" days of when architecture seemed magical. I write about this in my book. For me this topic is very special beyond all others. After all, an alive architecture is better than a dead one. I'm not nostalgic for my childhood but I am nostalgic for how saw the world when I was a child. Let's dig deeper into why you may feel dead inside as I do, well maybe you don't but play along, maybe you suffer a little from this architectural nostalgia I write of. You may have wondered lately or even lamented where has "My innocence of experience gone to? Why can't I get that feeling back?" Wouldn't you love to capture that "childhood innocence" and apply it to your architecture? I know I would. Unfortunately I don't come from an era of great architectural development, I could be wrong but I just don't see it. Where are those places and architecture that evoke wonderment and glee, something akin to being in love or a strong delightful connection to something beautiful. New Term: Nostalgart: The longing for great architecture- That magical feeling a place can give you through clever planning and creative design.

I suppose nostalgia is a personal journey and could never be experienced in the same way between people. My thoughts and belief's could never be your thoughts and belief's. However Nostalgia like love is universal. Not everyone loves the same person or thing but we can relate to it in the most fundamental of ways.

The Old Penn Station Demolished 1964

So what are the lessons here, why write about nostalgia, how can this help architecture or the built environment?  I can't speak for you but for me I think it's no coincidence that during the early to mid 20 century we had one of the most brilliant era's in architecture. It was the time of Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Adolf Loos and on and on we could name great architect after great architect. Never in the history of architecture have so many great names existed at the same time (OK that's debatable I know)  We also had the invention of the skyscraper, the space age, and Disneyland that most magical place for some (not me, but to some) OK so the industrial revolution may be a logical explanation for all that greatness but what do we have now? No offense to current superstar architects but they pale in comparison even with the best technology, building techniques and material available to them. I'm not so foolish as to be oblivious to how someone else may loath the same era I mentioned, but you know what, I don't care!

If you have read any of my previous articles you may have guessed none of what I write is accepted by any university or practical architect in practice, save for myself and elements of it here and there. However, I do endeavor to remind all those involved in the building industry to be nostalgic for when they once dreamed not for the past, wishing things would be as such in the present but to desire greatness and learn from the past. I'm still working out how architecture touches people in nostalgic ways but I do know no one thing for certain: No one will never be nostalgic over for a tenement building, a windowless cubicle, a prison cell,  a strip mall, a synthetic building or any other piece of architecture that is a blight to society. No architect wants to be the creator of that kind of architecture instead be this one below....

The Plaza By Henry Hardenbergh Built 1907

You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one, I hope some day you'll join us, STRIKE that, ponder this: Nostalgia is not a sentiment or a longing for things past that can never be again but rather to greatness and longing be able do great things as once done before. I heard Frank Borman, Apollo astronaut once say, (although he thinks our current  technology is far superior to what he had in his day)  it would be impossible today to put a man on the moon again. He gave his reasons, culture, politics etc. and other things which relate to what I have stated in this article and I would have to agree with him- So it goes for architecture unfortunately. Political correctness, bureaucratic red tape, the astronomic economic cost, endless regulations and the political and cultural division in our society kills and has killed our architecture. If you want to achieve the impossible you must go back in time - (Ironic play on words I know)  Maybe nostalgia will get us there.
Lewis Portal