"Una voce straordinaria, e la più associabile a quella di un barbone ubriaco, avrà pensato Bryars prima di telefonare a Tom Waits. Il disco è straordinario, unico, notturno, struggente. E natalizio."
La voce di Tom Waits appare e scompare durante il brano, per prendere poi il largo verso il minuto 10
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet is a 1971 composition by Gavin Bryars based on a loop of an unknown homeless man singing a brief improvised stanza. The loop was the singer's recollection of the chorus of a Gospel hymn, by James M Black, published in 1911.
Rich harmonies, comprising string and brass, are gradually overlaid over the stanza. When later listening to the recordings, Bryars noticed the clip was in tune with his piano and that it conveniently looped into 13 bars.
For the first LP recording, he was limited to a duration of 25 minutes; later he completed a 74-minute version. It was shortlisted for the 1993 Mercury Prize.
Bryars says:
"In 1971, when I lived in London, I was working with a
friend, Alan Power, on a film about people living rough in the area around
Elephant and Castle and Waterloo Station. In the course of being filmed, some
people broke into drunken song – sometimes bits of opera, sometimes sentimental
ballads – and one, who in fact did not drink, sang a religious song
"Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet". This was not ultimately used in
the film and I was given all the unused sections of tape, including this one.
When I played it at home, I found that his singing was in
tune with my piano, and I improvised a simple accompaniment. I noticed, too,
that the first section of the song – 13 bars in
length – formed an effective loop which repeated in a slightly unpredictable
way [in the notes for the 1993 recording on Point, Bryars wrote that while the
singer's pitch was quite accurate, his sense of tempo was irregular]. I took
the tape loop to Leicester, where I was working in the Fine Art Department, and
copied the loop onto a continuous reel of tape, thinking about perhaps adding
an orchestrated accompaniment to this. The door of the recording room opened on
to one of the large painting studios and I left the tape copying, with the door
open, while I went to have a cup of coffee. When I came back I found the
normally lively room unnaturally subdued. People were moving about much more
slowly than usual and a few were sitting alone, quietly weeping.
I was puzzled until I realised that the tape was still
playing and that they had been overcome by the old man's singing. This
convinced me of the emotional power of the music and of the possibilities
offered by adding a simple, though gradually evolving, orchestral accompaniment
that respected the homeless man's nobility and simple faith. Although he died
before he could hear what I had done with his singing, the piece remains as an
eloquent, but understated testimony to his spirit and optimism."
Tom Waits
In April 2019, a 12-hour overnight version was performed in London's Tate Modern art gallery, directed by Gavin Bryars. Performers included two groups of homeless people (one vocal, one instrumental), together with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Southbank Sinfonia, and Bryars' own ensemble.
Should you like to see my lecture "Intangible Reality", here it is. Its main focus is on "Drawing" as a powerful act of self expression in (and out of) the architectural design process.
Ecco il video della mia lecture "Intangible Reality". E' focalizzata sull'atto del Disegno come potente mezzo di espressione interno ed esterno al processo progettuale architettonico.
Bea is a fully qualified British architect and urbanist
with a set of skills and experience that fall in the practicing of architecture
and urban design, as well as in the teaching of its theories, training, and
enthusiasm for the built environment.
Bea is the founder of Archilibs, an experimental design
lab exploring the visual construct in architecture. In her role as a visual
theorist, the focus is on a conceptual investigation, digital and analog, of
the apparatus of drawing, the challenging boundary of drawing as a work of art,
in a research that is both architectural and artistic but never an end in
itself. Archilibs questions and reiterates the mission of drawing through
continuous research, intense interrogation, and devotion to craft. Exploring
the graphic theoria, praxis, and poiesis of architectural
verbalisation as a process for drawing. Her work is not limited by the normal
conventions of architectural delineation, rather a representation of different
types of explorations, material, connections, and notions; A body of drawings
that transverses a wider visualisation and verbalisation of the inherent
reasons underlying architecture and the built environment.
"Our practice philosophy can be expressed by the Navajo/Diné
concept of “hozho”, i.e. environmental beauty, the happiness one experiences by
being in harmony with nature. Architecture can only be complete when it works
well – true beauty comes from a combination of the pragmatic, the aesthetic and
the sustainable.
(...) Contextual response is crucial: appropriate approaches in a
country like Namibia entail careful deployment of funding to achieve as much as
possible without wasting resources. Thorough design and lateral thinking make
the most of limited means. The aesthetic impact of using materials in unusual
ways, exploiting their natural textures and colours, can push the boundaries of
architectural design."
"Chiribiquete: la "Cappella Sistina" della pittura rupestre, in Amazzonia
Una città nel sud della Colombia ospita alcune delle pitture rupestri più impressionanti del mondo. Chiribiquete è conosciuta tra gli archeologi latinoamericani come la "Cappella Sistina" dell'Amazzonia. Questo parco nazionale è stato dichiarato patrimonio culturale e biologico dell'umanità dall'UNESCO nel 2018."
"Nella lingua Karijuna, parlata dagli indigeni che abitavano la regione, Chiribiquete significa "collina dove è disegnata". Poco si sapeva di questo luogo, fino a quando Carlos Castaño, un archeologo e antropologo colombiano, dovette fare un viaggio nell'Amazzonia colombiana nel 1986. Lì trovò un tesoro perduto: più di 75.000 pitture rupestri raffiguranti la ricca diversità biologica della regione.
È una delle le più antiche manifestazioni culturali del continente: i ricercatori stimano che alcuni dei disegni potrebbero essere stati realizzati circa 20.000 anni fa."
"Il parco di Chiribiquete si trova tra i dipartimenti di
Guaviare e Caquetá. Ha una superficie di 4.268.095 ettari.
Per più di 30 anni è stato sotto il controllo di Pablo
Escobar e recentemente dai guerriglieri delle FARC, un fatto che lo ha tenuto
sconosciuto e reso impossibile la sua esplorazione. Ad oggi rimane uno
dei territori più inesplorati del mondo.
Si ritiene che le popolazioni indigene abitino l'interno che
si è isolato volontariamente dal mondo esterno, come nel caso della tribù
Karijona, con la quale il contatto è stato perso più di un secolo fa.
Ha il più vasto complesso pittografico di arte rupestre del
continente."
"Nel maggio 1943 il biologo americano Richard Evans Schultes
descrisse per la prima volta l'arte rupestre della Sierra del Chiribiquete.
Alcune di tali pitture rupestri furono fotografate per la prima volta dal
geologo Jaime Galvis tra il 1986 e il 1987. Ulteriori ricerche furono
realizzate da Carlos Castaños, ex direttore del Parques
Nacionales Naturales de Colombia, e dal geologo e paleontologo olandese
Thomas van der Hammen dal 1990 al 1992.
Nel 2014 il cineasta britannico Mike Slee e il fotografo ed
esploratore colombiano Francisco Forero Bonell hanno fotografato e filmato le
pitture rupestri sulle pareti verticali all'interno del parco
Il parco conserva oltre 75.000 petroglifi che risalgono fino
al 20.000 a.C. ed altre tracce artistiche preistoriche, per un
totale di oltre 600.000 opere."
Dal 2 OTT, ore 18:00 al 4 Ott. ore 14:00
Piazza San Cosimato, 39
Ciascuno di noi riceve specifici stimoli ed emozioni
dall'ambiente in cui si muove: durante il workshop impareremo a riconoscere e a
trasmettere queste impressioni su carta, attraverso differenti tecniche di
disegno e di colorazione.
D’altra parte il disegno è un mezzo di espressione primaria molto più antico
della parola. 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗹𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗼,
𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗨𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗦𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶
𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗼,
𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘂𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗲̀
𝗶𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗴𝗶𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗼𝗶.
𝗡𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘇𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲;
il corso si focalizza principalmente sul disegno e la tecnica dell'acquerello.
𝗨𝗻𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗮𝗹𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗻𝗼.
N° Posti: min. 8 - max. 15
POLITICHE ANTI COVID19
Il workshop è pensato e strutturato tenendo in considerazione le norme di
distanziamento fisico e protezione individuale previste negli standard indicati
dall’ISS: igienizzazione degli ambienti, ampi spazi di lavoro e uso di
mascherine (a carico dei partecipanti) obbligatorio negli spazi chiusi.
Costo: 150€
Aperitivo introduttivo Venerdì 2 Ottobre ore 18
_________
Fabio Barilari
Architetto, pittore e illustratore, insegna progettazione architettonica e
disegno a Roma. Nel suo curriculum vanta collaborazioni con La Sapienza e le
università americane Arcadia University, California Polytechnic, Cornell
University e Iowa State University. Ha collaborato con numerosi studi di
architettura e dal 2016 illustra le principali città tedesche per il
Goethe-Institut. Nel 2018 ha ricevuto una menzione speciale a Lucca Comix dalla
Bao Pubblishing.
Honored to be invited to take part in this Fall series of
lectures organized by prof. Beatriz Gomes-Martin FHEA RIBA ARB OASRS
Architecture Level 6 Leader - DipArch MScUrbanPlanning MArch PGCE (HE)
Hooker's date of birth is a subject of debate; the years
1912, 1915, 1917, 1920, and 1923 have been suggested. Most sources give 1917,
though at times Hooker stated he was born in 1920. Information in the 1920 and
1930 censuses indicates that he was born in 1912. In
2017, a series of events took place to celebrate the purported centenary of his
birth. In
the 1920 federal census, John Hooker is seven years old and one of nine
children living with William and Minnie Hooker in Tutwiler Mississippi.
It is believed that he was born in Tutwiler, Mississippi, in Tallahatchie
County, although some sources say his birthplace was near Clarksdale, in Coahoma County. He
was the youngest of the 11 children of William Hooker a sharecropper and
Baptist preacher, and Minnie Ramsey.
The Hooker children were permitted to listen only to religious songs; the spirituals sung
in church were their earliest exposure to music. In 1921, their parents
separated. The next year, their mother married William Moore, a blues singer,
who provided John Lee with an introduction to the guitar
Moore was his first significant blues influence. He was a
local blues guitarist.
Another influence was Tony Hollins, who dated Hooker's sister Alice, helped teach Hooker to play, and
gave him his first guitar. For the rest of his life, Hooker regarded Hollins as
a formative influence on his style of playing and his career as a musician.
At the age of 14, Hooker ran away from home, reportedly
never seeing his mother or stepfather again. In
the mid-1930s, he lived in Memphis, Tennessee.
He worked in factories in various cities during WWII, eventually getting a job with the Ford Motor Company in Detroit in
1943. He frequented the blues clubs and bars on Hastings Street , the heart of
the black entertainment district, on Detroit's east side. In a city noted for
its pianists, guitar players were scarce. Hooker's popularity grew quickly as
he performed in Detroit clubs, and, seeking an instrument louder than his
acoustic guitar, he bought his first electric guitar.
ksar El Mourabitine is a fortified granary (ksar) located in
the Tataouine Governorate in southern Tunisia. It was built by Berber tribes to
repel Bedouin attacks and to store grains and crops. The shape of the building
is irregular rectangular and it consists of 180 rooms spread over several
floors
"Color has got me. I no longer need to chase after it. It has
got me forever. That is the meaning of this happy hour: Color and I are one. I
am a painter. Everything vanishes around me, and works are born as if out of
the void. Ripe, graphic fruits fall"
Ringrazio molto l'Ordine
Architetti Roma per il loro invito ad esprimere un'opinione sul settore
dell'architettura post Covid.
Ho cercato di individuare alcuni temi tanto necessari per il paese, quanto
carichi di potenziale per la professione.
Spero possano contribuire allo sviluppo di un dibattito molto concreto e
finalizzato, più che teorico.
Many thanks to the Board of Architects of Rome for their invitation to express
an opinion on the architecture sector, post Covid. I have tried to identify topics that are both necessary to the country as well
as a relevant opportunity for our profession.
I hope these topics can contribute to the development of a very grounded and
objective-driven discussion rather than a purely theoretical one.
La Winton Guest House è un progetto di Frank Gehry del 1987.
Un progetto che ebbe un grande riscontro immediato per l'architetto che, all'epoca, era ancora in piena fase propulsiva di ricerca e sviluppo creativo verso quelli che sarebbero poi diventati i capolavori del suo linguaggio architettonico, a partire dal Guggenheim di Bilbao e la Walt Disney Concert Hall fino alla recente Louis Vuitton Foundation.
La Winton Guest House venne considerata da subito un capolavoro, pietra miliare dell’architettura residenziale americana. Per il progetto di questa villa, l'architetto trasse ispirazione dalle composizioni di oggetti di Giorgio Morandi: una lunga serie di dipinti essenziali e minimali, carichi di atmosfere sospese e silenziose, rese combinando tra loro semplici oggetti mobili, sotto determinate condizioni di luce naturale.
Nel 2007 la casa fu donata da un privato all’Università di
St. Thomas (St. Thomas, Minnesota), affinchè potesse essere condivisa e
vissuta dal pubblico.
In effetti la Winton Guest House fu salvata dalla demolizione da Kirt
Woodhouse, un costruttore locale che acquistò la proprietà la donò all'Università di St. Thomas.
Il rettore, si rese conto che la casa si trova in una zona isolata sul lago Minnetonka a 125 chilometri dalla sua università e per ovviare al problema venne deciso di tagliare la Winston Guest House in otto pezzi, portarla nella sede dell’università e riassemblarla.
Gehry dichiarò successivamente di essere soddisfatto al "93,6 per cento" del progetto che ha smontato la casa.
Salutando qualunque concetto di "Genius Loci" o di rapporto con il contesto, fu quindi smontata e inserita nel complesso accademico del Gainey Conference Center, nella vicina città di Owatonna, dove sarebbe potuta rimanere fino al 2020.
In occasione della nuova collocazione, Frank Gehry presenziò all'inaugurazione tenendo un discorso.
All'avvicinarsi della scadenza per questo secondo spostamento della villa, nel Maggio del 2019 la Winton Guest House è andata all’incanto da Wright a New York, casa
d’aste specializzata in design moderno e contemporaneo, con la specifica che il futuro proprietario si sarebbe dovuto anche far carico di trovare una nuova collocazione.
Avevo questo post preparato da tempo, da quando lessi del secondo spostamento in atto di questa villa. Mi è però tornato in mente questo progetto e la sua storia, dopo aver visto l'immagine del Papa, celebrare da solo, in Piazza San Pietro, la settimana scorsa.
Un'immagine così potente, drammatica e bellissima, che mostrava un uomo da solo di fronte ad una piazza completamente vuota, ma all'interno di un'architettura che nei secoli ha reso così drammaticamente simbolico quello spazio urbano: il colonnato di Gian Lorenzo Bernini, aperto davanti a lui. Un'architettura unica al mondo.
Bernini lo ideò e realizzò tra il 1657 e il 1667. Non si era mai visto nulla di simile prima di allora. Uno dei massimi capolavori della storia dell'architettura: realizzato in pieno Barocco, in grado di esprimere tutta la forza della Controriforma, ma che allo stesso tempo affondava le proprie radici indietro nei secoli, fino a raggiungere una profonda affinità e continuità con l'architettura classica dell'antica Grecia.
Con le parole che scrisse lo stesso Bernini:
«la chiesa di S. Pietro, quasi matrice di tutte le altre doveva haver' un portico che per l'appunto dimostrasse di ricever à braccia aperte maternamente i Cattolici per confermarli nella credenza, gl'Heretici per riunirli alla Chiesa, e gl'Infedeli per illuminarli alla vera fede»
Pochi giorni fa, in quell'immagine del Papa di fronte alla piazza, sotto la pioggia, quell'architettura si mostrava in tutta la sua potenza iconografica ed il suo carico simbolico.
In quel momento, in altri termini, l'architettura stava mostrando e rappresentando, con tutta la forza necessaria, un messaggio antico di 2000 anni di storia del Cristianesimo e più di 3000 anni di storia dell'architettura.
E non si tratta di scenografia, ma di un'espressione architettonica in grado dare sostanza e peso specifico ad una dimensione del divino, astratta e imperscrutabile.
Disegno di Gian Lorenza Bernini
Ecco, mi sono venute in mente tutte queste immagini.
Mi è venuto in mente quanto queste due dimensioni dell'architettura rappresentino due limiti estremi (non gli unici) entro i quali si muove questa disciplina: un valore assoluto in grado di arrivare a rappresentare un concetto divino, e un valore assolutamente relativo ma altrettanto necessario, che semplicemente accompagna i gesti quotidiani, piccoli; che possono prescindere dal luogo in cui ci si trova e che sostanzialmente vengono regolati da dinamiche totalmente pragmatiche.
E non c'è davvero alcuna valutazione di merito in questo confronto.
Si tratta solo una considerazione nata istintivamente, vedendo le immagini recenti, trasmesse dalle televisioni di tutto il mondo. ----
English text
The Winton Guest House is a 1987 project by Frank Gehry.
A project that had a great immediate response for the
architect who, at the time, was still in the full propulsive phase of research
and creative development towards what would later become the masterpieces of
his architectural language, starting from the Guggenheim in Bilbao and the Walt
Disney Concert Hall up to the recent Louis Vuitton Foundation.
The Winton Guest House was immediately considered a
masterpiece, a milestone in American residential architecture.
For the design
of this villa, the architect drew inspiration from the compositions of objects
by Giorgio Morandi: a long series of essential and minimal paintings, full of
suspended and silent atmospheres, rendered by combining together simple mobile
objects, under certain conditions of natural light.
In 2007 the house was donated by a private individual to the
University of St. Thomas (St. Thomas, Minnesota), so that it could be shared
and lived by the public.
The Winton Guest House was in fact saved from demolition by
Kirt Woodhouse, a local builder who bought the property and donated it to the
University of St. Thomas.
The Rector realized that the house was located in an
isolated area on Lake Minnetonka, 125 kilometers from his university and to
solve the problem, the decision was made to dismantle the Winston Guest House
into eight pieces, to bring it to the university and to reassemble it.
Gehry later declared that he was "93.6 percent"
satisfied with the project which dismantled the house.
Leaving behind any concept of "Genius Loci"
or relationship with the context, it was so dismantled and inserted into the
academic complex of the Gainey Conference Center, in the nearby city of
Owatonna, where it could be left until 2020.
On the occasion of the new allocation, Frank Gehry attended
the inauguration giving a speech.
As the deadline for this second move of the villa
approached, in May 2019 the Winton Guest House went to auction at Wright in New
York, an auction house specializing in modern and contemporary design, with the
condition that the future owner would also be responsible for finding a new
location.
I had prepared this post for some time, since I read about
the second ongoing move of this villa. However, I also remembered this project
and its history, after seeing the image of the Pope, giving his address and
blessing, alone, in an empty St. Peter's Square, last week.
Such a powerful, dramatic and beautiful image, which showed
a man alone in front of a completely empty square, but within an architecture
that over the centuries has made that urban space so dramatically symbolic: the
colonnade of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, opening in front of him. A unique
architecture in the world.
Bernini conceived and created it between 1657 and 1667.
Nothing like this had ever been seen before. One of the greatest masterpieces
in the history of architecture: made in the Baroque period, it expresses all
the strength of the Counter-Reformation, but at the same time sinks its roots
back over the centuries, finding deep affinity and continuity with the
classical architecture of ancient Greece.
With the words that Bernini himself wrote:
"The church of S. Pietro, almost the matrix of all the
others, had to have a portico conveying precisely how it welcomed Catholics, in
a motherly way, with open arms, to confirm them in their belief, as well as
Heretics to reunite them with the Church, and the infidels to illuminate them
with true faith»
A few days ago, in that image of the Pope in front of the
square, in the rain, that architecture showed itself in all its iconographic
power and its symbolic load.
In that moment, in other words, architecture was showing and
representing, with all the necessary strength, an ancient message, bearing 2000
years of the history of Christianity and more than 3000 years of architectural
history.
And it is not a matter of scenography, but of an
architectural expression capable of giving substance and specific weight to a
dimension of the divine, abstract and inscrutable.
So, all these images came to my mind.
It occurred to me how much these two dimensions of
architecture represent two extreme limits (not the only ones) within which this
discipline operates: an absolute value capable of representing a divine
concept, and an absolutely relative but equally necessary value, which simply
accompanies every day, small gestures; which can happen regardless of where you
are and which are basically regulated by totally pragmatic dynamics.
And there is really no evaluation of merit in this
comparison.
It is only a consideration born instinctively, from watching
recent images, broadcast by televisions around the world.
