Procession & Seduction

Philip Johnson often used the word “procession” to describe how, through design, the experience of architecture and landscape can be choreographed. Within the seductive context of the Glass House, participants discussed how we reveal, preserve and celebrate an authentic and complicated spirit of place through “procession.” Participants explored the Glass House as a series of choreographed sensory experiences within the context of landscape and architecture.

Fritz Haeg, moderator, invited us to shift our attention from objects to the relationships between them. Using the Glass House as an example, he described how he was struck by the modesty of the structures and their subservience to the landscape, some underground, others diminutive, and of course one totally transparent. “It is the space between these sheltered moments that feels really charged, and it was when I was moving between them that the place really became alive.”

Understanding procession is important in a new economy that values relationships. The discussion referenced both physical and virtual spaces. Participants discussed how good design of buildings, objects and spaces is seductive. Good design looks and feels good. However, with technological tools, where form does not suggest function, experience is choreographed through the interface. Interface is increasingly important for how we access and maneuver through the world.

Play, improvisation and music were described as important strategies for enhancing the experience of place. Music was described as dematerialized experience, liquid architecture. Landscape was described as the “art of time and the art of movement.” Intentionally, landscapes are open-ended propositions. As architects, planners and landscape designers study how people move through and experience space, they consider how people move through spaces on their own and as a shared experience.

Procession and seduction define 20th century art, exploring what it means to be alive and to bring people together. Procession invites change and reinvention. It is seductive to reinvent yourself, to see and experience something new each time. Procession and seduction feed the human condition that we all must change.