Mar 19
2012
Reportedly the first eyeglasses were made in late 14th Century in Pisa. Johnson borrowed his design from Le Corbusier and had his own version custom made. Like the theatrical devises now commonly called "lorgnettes" through which theater goers can view other people and remain un-noticed, spectacles can effect a major change to the facial landscape and at the same time orient focus onto the fantastic story on stage. Spectacles for spectacles.
While mulling over the relationship of a designer’s personal style and the design choices that dominate a designer’s renderings, the subject of frames -- specifically eyeglass frames -- come to mind. In short, it seems that spectacles as eyeglasses are structures we see through, and spectacles as events are something we look to. The former can be said to make a person’s appearance memorable, but the latter is predicated on making a memorable impression. Both allow for a balance of what is hidden and what gets revealed and thus both involve a certain amount of voyeuristic sleight of hand directing of the eye and the subject.
Philip Johnson's glasses were his signature, his Glass House was his "Pavilion for viewing nature." What design spectacles – eyewear or event – have had a significant impact on you?
Terence gave the final word
I have had to wear eyeglasses since I was in 3rd grade so I have spent a lot of time thinking about them.
I think architects put a lot emphasis on them for various reasons. But the root association might be seen in the self-portrait that El Lissitzky created of himself….
If you look at it closely, Lissitzky has superimposed his hand (with compass) over his eye, as if to emphasize the architect’s hand – and work, I suppose – being linked to his eye. The hand is also using the compass to draw a circle. Overall, this is a little manifesto about self-invention – the circle being an abstraction of the artist’s head. Or eye.
Wednesday, March 21 at 2:46pm
Terence gave the Final Word
I have had to wear eyeglasses since I was in 3rd grade so I have spent a lot of time thinking about them.
I think architects put a lot emphasis on them for various reasons. But the root association might be seen in the self-portrait that El Lissitzky created of himself. Is there any way to post this for discussion?
Wednesday, March 21 at 2:46pm
Perhaps this is the portrait you refer to? 1924, Self Portrait, El Lissitzky:
http://bit.ly/GFS5Nv
Thursday, March 22 at 5:49pm
Spectacles for spectacles is very clever – my light on lighting does not quite measure up. While eyewear spectacles transmit light, it is always the lighting in a night sky that sparks my best imagination. My spectacles become the mind’s lenses on filtering memories.
Just a few favorite examples: new year’s fireworks in the Hong Kong harbor, synchronized lighting at the Eiffel Tower, and shooting stars in a brightly lit sky in any rural area – my best memory being in the Negev dessert.
Friday, March 23 at 4:32pm
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While traveling Brazil after my apprenticeship as an architectural draftsman, I must have drank a caipirinha made with badly brewed cachaça. Even though I have to wear prescription glasses since that fateful drink, my trip to Brazil was one of the many eye opening journeys that formed my vision for architecture.
Tuesday, March 27 at 2:40pm
Yes, that is the image, with the link posted above.
If you look at it closely, Lissitzky has superimposed his hand (with compass) over his eye, as if to emphasize the architect’s hand – and work, I suppose – being linked to his eye. The hand is also using the compass to draw a circle. Overall, this is a little manifesto about self-invention – the circle being an abstraction of the artist’s head. Or eye.
Tuesday, March 27 at 3:05pm
Luckily I didn’t turn into stone in my Medusa moment, but got inspired to follow a more lively architecture than what was built in Switzerland at the time (1994). I mostly visited Brazilian modernist buildings in Sao Paolo, Brazilia, Belo Horizonte and Rio but I also liked the Itaipu Dam a lot and the baroque town Oero Preto.
Wednesday, March 28 at 11:22am
Keywords
Selected list of words appearing in this and other conversations.
Cay Sophie Rabinowitz
Founding Editor, FANTOM Photographic Quarterly
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Clearly, The Glass House was Phillip Johnson’s dream house. Most people imagine him awake and focused wearing his signature frames, but does anyone else wonder what the architect saw when he removed his glasses to go to sleep at night?
Monday, March 19 at 1:53pm