Glass House Conversation, March 26-27, 2008
Trophy
Icons come in different shapes and sizes, from super heroes to houses, from religious artifacts to widely recognized objects that define culture, history and daily life. Trophy was explored as icon, but also as monument, legacy and aspiration. Within the context of the Glass House, participants compared the Glass House structure (the icon) within the context of the entire 47-acre site (the legacy). Trophies were described as reductive, freezing a lost moment of greatness. Landscapes, however, challenge the idea of “trophy” as they are monuments in motion, always changing, never finished.
Participants discussed the challenges and opportunities for making icons accessible and meaningful to the broad public. “Trophies can be dead, or they can talk to you and inspire you.” Trophies suggest aspirations. Superman was discussed as a modern icon, exhibiting the shapes and colors of the Bauhaus. Like the progressive ideas that shaped modernism, super heroes in DC Comics serve rather than rule society.
Different approaches for preserving modern architectural icons were discussed. Recently, modern homes have been promoted as “trophies.” However, Philip Johnson and Albert Frey, among others, didn’t define modern buildings as historic, but as part of a modern continuum. The decision to restore a modern home to its original specifications challenges the progressive canon that defines the idea and practice of modernism, especially as there are opportunities to employ new materials and technologies for efficiency and economy.
Conversation Participants
Michael Bierut
Pentagram
Michael Bierut
Pentagram
Dorothy Dunn
the Philip Johnson Glass House
Elizabeth Edwards Harris
Gary Hilderbrand
Reed Hilderbrand Associates
Chip Kidd
graphic designer
Armand Limnander
The New York Times
Christy MacLear
The Philip Johnson Glass House, Executive Director
Bobbie Greene McCarthy
Save Americas Treasures
Nils Norén
French Culinary Institute
Philippe Petit
wirewalker, author, filmmaker
Robert Rubin
modern steward
John Stern
Storm King Art Center
Selected Excerpts
Philippe Petit and Michael Bierut discuss keepsakes and trophies:
- Philippe Petit
I am in the woods and I am prehistoric man. I hunt for days alone. I don't know why. And I finally find the object of my hunt, a wild grizzly.
Out of courage, out of intelligence, out of luck, out of strength, I kill the monster. With my stone ax and knife, I cut out and I get a bone or a tooth.
I now have a necklace. I have my trophy.
Why do I have the bone or the tooth? Maybe I go back to my clan and be the hero, the chief, the narrator, or the amazing hunter. Does the necklace remind me that I am here or that a miracle just happened? Is it to draw strength on my next hunt? What is the trophy in a very simplistic vision? Please give me your answer, because I'm very interested in that.
I do not have trophies. I do, however, have a little piece of the cable of the World Trade Center cable on my desk. Why do I have that? It's like the teeth. The Towers are not here, but the cable reminds me that it (my walk between the twin towers) did happen. But this is just a piece of cable. It's not what is in my heart. What is this little dangling tooth on the prehistoric man's neck?
- Michael Bierut
I think there's a difference between a keepsake and a trophy. A keepsake is a reminder of something. A trophy is an attempt to possess an experience… If you surpass the experience or the experience doesn't quite mean the same anymore, then the trophy loses all its value. But I think it's an attempt to possess the experience.
About the Conversations
Glass House Conversations continue the important legacy of Philip Johnson and David Whitney through a series of invitational dialogues bringing together thought leaders from across society for conversations that explore important issues and new ideas.
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