I cannot believe that it is 12 days since my last post...if you don't follow this blog I don't blame you! Anyway, I spend the weekend making books out of our Budapest and Bratislava experiences. The good news is the Budapest book is up and ready so I'm going to post the link so you can check it out. sorry to send you on this separate journey, but at least this way I'll know you're going to see the pictures! I'll post Bratislava when its ready! Have a great day!
http://www.mypublisher.com/bookstore/book_viewer.py?d=tq%3Ey-cppl%60je%3E32765%3A2
Your book ID # is: M647779Your password is: 1139833
Hope this works, I'll try it out to see!
Monday, 24 March 2008
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
Chatam Sofer Memorial Bratislava
Below is a description of a memorial that we visited in Bratislava (the capital of Slovaka). I will post some pictures shortly.
------- CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL ------- FAMOUS AND UNKNOWN MEMORIAL - IN BRATISLAVA, NEAR THE RIVER DANUBE LIES AN OLD ORTHODOX CEMETERY. RECENTLY UNKNOWN, ALTHOUGH FOR ABOUT HALF OF A CENTURY VISITED BY PILGRIMS FROM THE WHOLE WORLD FROM JERUSALEM UP TO NEW YORK. THE REASON FOR THEIR VISITS IS THE GRAVE OF CHATAM SOFER. THE BRATISLAVA’S RABBI AND SCHOLAR, WHO IS FAMOUS AND IN THE SAME TIME UNKNOWN, SIMILARLY AS THE PLACE OF HIS LAST REST. THE NOTED BRITISH HISTORIAN PAUL JOHNSON IS NOT MENTIONING THIS MAN IN HIS LARGE BOOK A HISTORY OF THE JEWS (1987). HOWEVER, IN THE COMMUNITY OF ORTHODOX JEWS CHATAM SOFER BELONGS TO THE MOST IMPORTANT HALAKIC AUTHORITIES OF THE 19TH CENTURY. THE YESHIVA HE LEADED IN BRATISLAVA AND WHICH WAS THE CENTRE OF THE TRADITIONAL JEWISH TEACHING IN EUROPE, IS FUNCTIONING IN JERUSALEM AS PRESSBURGER YESHIVAH TILL TODAY. CHATAM SOFER, BY OWN NAME MOSHE SCHREIBER (1762 – 1836), WAS BORN IN FRANKFURT AM MEIN. HE LIVED IN CZECH PROSTÌJOV, LATER IN MATTERSDORF . HOWEVER HE BECOME AMOUS JUST DURING HIS WORK IN BRATISLAVA./1/ THE FORMER JEWISH CEMETERY WAS FOUNDED IN THE 17TH CENTURY, WHEN THE BRATISLAVA FAMILY PALFFY HAS ALLOWED JEWS TO BURY THEIR DEAD NEAR THE FORTIFICATION ON THE DANUBE RIVERBANK. IT WAS USED TILL THE YEAR 1847. SINCE THAN IT WAS OUT OF WORK, THOUGH IT WAS PRESERVED. IN THE YEAR 1942 A LIQUIDATION IMPENDED THE CEMETERY. THE REASON WAS BUILDING OF A NEW TUNNEL AND REGULATION OF THE DANUBE RIVER. MOST OF THE GRAVES HAVE BEEN EXHUMED AND THE DEAD RESTS WERE BROUGHT OVER TO THE NEARBY NEW ORTHODOX CEMETERY. ONLY A SMALL AREA – 23 GRAVES INCLUDING THE GRAVE OF CHATAM SOFER – REMAINED. THROUGH THE INCREASE OF THE GROUND LEVEL ON THE DANUBE RIVERBANK, THE CEMETERY GOT IN THE UNDERGROUND. IT WAS COVERED BY CONCRETE PLATES AND REMAINED SO FOR A HALF OF A CENTURY. THE ONLY WAY TO REACH THE CEMETERY LEADED THROUGH AN INARTISTIC TIN SHELTER. ONLY THE NEW POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SITUATION IN NINETIETH ENABLED THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE CEMETERY. THE UNITED EFFORT OF THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY, THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE GRAVESITES OF GEONAI PRESSBURG RESIDING IN NEW YORK AND THE MUNICIPALITY OF BRATISLAVA SUCCEEDED TO REALISE THE IDEA OF CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL. THE TRAM TRACKS WERE MOVED, THE CEILING OF THE CEMETERY WAS RAISED, THE TOMBSTONES WERE RESTORED AND NEW SPACES FOR VISITORS WERE CREATED. TOWARDS THE ARCHITECTURAL CONCEPT ARCHITECT MARTIN KVASNICA CONCEIVED THE MEMORIAL AS A WAY, A WAY TO A STRANGE WORLD, A PILGRIMAGE TO THE GRAVES OF FATHERS. THE UNAMBIGUOUS LINE OF THE ENTRANCE PATH LEVITATES OVER THE AREA OF THE FORMER CEMETERY, COVERED BY TINY GRAVEL. THROUGH THIS BENCH GETS THE VISITOR TO THE BLACK PRISM, ARCHETYPE OF A TOMB. THE REINFORCED CONCRETE PRISM IS STEEPED BY BLACK COLOUR WITH ADDITION OF SILICATE, WHICH GIVES THE SURFACE INCONSPICUOUS DARK SHEEN. THE PRISM IS AN INTERFACE BETWEEN TODAY AND YESTERDAY, BETWEEN THE PRESENT AN THE PAST, BETWEEN PROFANE AND SACRAL WORLD. THE LIFTED ENTRANCE PATH AND THE BLACK OBJECT WITHOUT CEILING ARE THE STRONGEST AND MOST GENEROUS PARTS OF THE CONCEPT. THE FEELING OF LONELINESS AND ANXIETY THAT OVERWHELMS ONE IN THE CRAMPED SPACE BETWEEN THE BLACK WALLS UNDER THE DISTANT HAVEN BELONGS TO THE MOST REMARKABLE EXPERIENCES. THE WAY LEADS THE VISITOR FARTHER TO THE UNDERGROUND, WHERE THE RELIC OF THE ORIGINAL CEMETERY REMAINED. TWO INNER ROOMS, LIFTED OVER THE LEVEL OF THE CEMETERY, ARE DARK SIMPLE RECTANGULAR SPACES (ONE ROOM IS FOR LAYMEN, THE OTHER SERVES FOR PRAYING BELIEVERS) WITH GLITTERING BLACK FLOOR. HERE THE VISITOR COULD SEE THE GRAVES BEHIND THE GLASS WALL FOR THE FIRST TIME. A SUBTLE STEEL STAIRCASE LEADS THAN TO THE GRAVES AREA. HERE, BY THE GRAVES OF CHATAM SOFER AND OTHER IMPORTANT REPRESENTATIVES OF THE BRATISLAVA ORTHODOX JEWISH COMMUNITY CULMINATES THIS PILGRIMAGE. IN THE UNDERGROUND SPACE OF GRAVES THE CEILING WAS LIFTED AND VISUALLY CONNECTED WITH THE VISITORS SPACES. THE SYSTEM OF ILLUMINATED GLASS PLATES PENETRATES THE CEILING AND PASSES FROM INTERIOR TO THE EXTERIOR. THE FORMER UNCOMFORTABLE FEELING OF LOW, NOT MAINTAINED BASEMENT, DISAPPEARED IN THIS WAY COMPLETELY. LAYERS, SYMBOLS, NARRATIVES AND UNREASONABLENESS HOWEVER, ANOTHER REAL AND ILLUSORY LAYERS ENTER THE CLEAR CONCEPT OF THE MEMORIAL AND ITS SOBER ARCHITECTURE. ON ONE HAND THEY CONTRADICT THE CONCEPT OF THE MEMORIAL, ON THE OTHER HAND THEY DEVELOP THE UNIQUE EXPRESSION OF THE WORK. THE CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL IS PERCEIVED BY THE PUBLIC MOSTLY AS A MEMORIAL OF THE IMPORTANT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ORTHODOX JEWS. NEVERTHELESS, ON THE RELICT OF THE CEMETERY ARE BURIED ALSO THE FATHERS OF HEINRICH HEINE, KARL MARX AND OTHER PERSONALITIES, WHICH WERE CREATING THE UNIQUE ATMOSPHERE OF PRESSBURG AND EUROPE OF THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY. THE MEMORIAL COULD BE THAN PERCEIVED AS A RELIGIOUS JEWISH PLACE, BUT IN THE SAME TIME AS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT ON THE MAP OF EUROPEAN MULTIETHNIC AND MULTIRELIGIOUS CULTURE. WE COULD ASK, HOW HAS THIS MOMENT INFLUENCED THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE MEMORIAL? MOST EVIDENT IN THIS CONTEXT IS THE CONTINENCE OF ITS ARCHITECTURE. IN THIS REGION IT IS NOT USUAL TO BUILD MONUMENTAL TOMBS AND MEMORIALS. EVEN THE WAR MEMORIALS, WHICH ARE LARGE FOR LOCAL CONDITIONS, COULD NOT REACH THE ONES BUILT BY GREAT NATIONS. BIG GESTURES ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL HERE./2/ THE WORKS OF ART – COUPLE OF GATES AND THE BOWL FOR RITUAL HAND WASHING WERE DESIGNED BY FRANTIŠEK GULDAN IN CHARACTERISTIC NATURALISTIC-NARRATIVE PENCIL. THE FIRST GATE DIVIDING THE INNER SPACE OF THE PRISM FROM THE SURROUNDINGS IS INTENTIONALLY INARTISTIC TANGLE OF RUSTY STEEL BARS. THEY ARE IDEOLOGICALLY RELATED WITH THE WOVEN SHELTERS OF NOMAD JEWS, WHICH HAVE IN THE SAME TIME DIVIDED AND NOT DIVIDED THE ABODE FROM THE LAND. SIMILAR FABRIC USED TO DIVIDE PARTICULAR PARTS OF THE TEMPLE. COUPLE OF BIRDS HAVE ALREADY MADE THEIR NEST IN THE PLAITS OF THE BARS. THE GATE WANTS TO EVOKE THE THREE THOUSAND YEARS OLD HISTORY OF JEWISH RELIGION AND IN THE SAME TIME DIVIDE THE SURROUNDING WORLD FROM THE DARKNESS OF THE OLD CEMETERY. THE SECOND GATE IS MADE OF COMPACT PATINED STEEL. IT SHOULD REMIND OF THE PLATES ON THE STONE GRAVES. THE BOWL FOR RITUAL HAND WASHING IS A COMBINATION OF THE BASE MADE OF SMALL STONE FRAGMENTS AND PATINED COPPER BOWL WITH A COUPLE OF TIN POTS FOR RINSING THE HANDS. ALL THE WORKS OF ART ARE INSPIRING IN THEIR AD HOC NATURALISM, THOUGH GETTING INTO CONFLICT WITH PRECISE AND RATIONAL PURITY OF THE BUILDING. IF THE WORKS OF ART GETTING INTO CONFLICT WITH THE PURE BUILDING BECAUSE OF THEIR NARRATIVES, THAN THE DIRECT SURROUNDINGS CONTRADICTS THE BUILDING BY ITS ACCIDENTAL QUALITY – THE CONCRETE SUPPORTING WALL, THE TUNNEL PORTAL, THREE PREFABRICATED HOUSES IN THE BACKGROUND AND EVEN THE ENCLOSURE OF THE CEMETERY. HOWEVER THIS IS A NATURAL LOCAL STRATIFICATION, ACCIDENTAL OR SPONTANEOUSLY ACCUMULATED IN THE PLACE OF THE CEMETERY. THE FENCE, WHICH AROSE IN ADDITION, IS COPYING THE VARIOUS LINES OF THE PLOT AND ONLY ITS ENTRANCE PART LOOKS LIKE TO BE IN ADEQUATE CONNECTION WITH THE ABSTRACT BLACK PRISM. THE REALISED PROJECT STANDS THEREFORE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN A GESTURE AND A CLEVER SOLUTION OF A RESIDUAL TERRITORY. “THE MOST SUCCESSFUL CREATIONS OF ITS TIME RESULTED, ON MY OPINION, FROM UNREASONABILITY, WHILE THAT, WHAT RULES THE WORLD, WHAT GETS ON, DOMINATES AND OFTEN KILLS, HAPPENS ALWAYS IN THE NAME OF THE REASON, THE RATIONALITY.” STATED DANIEL LIBESKIND IN CONTEXT OF THE INTRODUCTORY COORDINATES OF HIS PROPOSAL FOR THE JEWISH MUSEUM IN BERLIN./3/ BY THE PROPOSAL FOR THE CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL PLAYED THE UNREASONABILITY ALSO AN IMPORTANT ROLE. THE FORM OF MEMORIAL IS LIKEWISE A RESULT OF VARIOUS ENTRIES: THE COHENS (THE DESCENDANTS OF TEMPLE PRIESTS) RULES, THE AWARENESS OF ACTUAL ARCHITECTONIC TENDENCIES, THE NARRATIVE SYMBOLIC OF WORKS OF ART, THE PROTECTION FROM THE ANTI-SEMITIC VANDALS, THE ORIGINAL BOUNDARIES OF THE CEMETERY, THE SHAPE AND THE SCALE OF THE CEMETERY RELICT AS A RESULT OF PARADOXICAL HISTORIC SITUATION, THE ORIGINAL CONCRETE BEAMS PLACED ON THE EDGE OF THE PLOT, THE PLANTED GREENERY, WHICH COULD BE ACTUALLY PLANTED ONLY BY GOD... IMAGINATION IN COMBINATION WITH UTILITARIAN REQUIREMENTS, ABSTRACTION AND IN THE SAME TIME NARRATIVES, REMEMBRANCE AND CONCEALMENT, THESE ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BRATISLAVA FAMOUS AND UNKNOWN MEMORIAL. ------- HENRIETA MORAVÈÍKOVÁ ------- NOTES: 1 BORSKÝ, M.: CHATAM SOFER. ARCH 7, 2002, N.6, P.24. 2 DULLA, M.: BETWEEN HEAVEN AND UNDERGROUND. CHATAM SOFER MAUSOLEUM IN BRATISLAVA. ARCH 5, 2000, N.2, P.22–24. 3 LIBESKIND, D.: ARCHITEKTUR UND SCHRIFTEN. MÜNCHEN – NEW YORK, PRESTEL 1994, P.100.
------- CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL ------- FAMOUS AND UNKNOWN MEMORIAL - IN BRATISLAVA, NEAR THE RIVER DANUBE LIES AN OLD ORTHODOX CEMETERY. RECENTLY UNKNOWN, ALTHOUGH FOR ABOUT HALF OF A CENTURY VISITED BY PILGRIMS FROM THE WHOLE WORLD FROM JERUSALEM UP TO NEW YORK. THE REASON FOR THEIR VISITS IS THE GRAVE OF CHATAM SOFER. THE BRATISLAVA’S RABBI AND SCHOLAR, WHO IS FAMOUS AND IN THE SAME TIME UNKNOWN, SIMILARLY AS THE PLACE OF HIS LAST REST. THE NOTED BRITISH HISTORIAN PAUL JOHNSON IS NOT MENTIONING THIS MAN IN HIS LARGE BOOK A HISTORY OF THE JEWS (1987). HOWEVER, IN THE COMMUNITY OF ORTHODOX JEWS CHATAM SOFER BELONGS TO THE MOST IMPORTANT HALAKIC AUTHORITIES OF THE 19TH CENTURY. THE YESHIVA HE LEADED IN BRATISLAVA AND WHICH WAS THE CENTRE OF THE TRADITIONAL JEWISH TEACHING IN EUROPE, IS FUNCTIONING IN JERUSALEM AS PRESSBURGER YESHIVAH TILL TODAY. CHATAM SOFER, BY OWN NAME MOSHE SCHREIBER (1762 – 1836), WAS BORN IN FRANKFURT AM MEIN. HE LIVED IN CZECH PROSTÌJOV, LATER IN MATTERSDORF . HOWEVER HE BECOME AMOUS JUST DURING HIS WORK IN BRATISLAVA./1/ THE FORMER JEWISH CEMETERY WAS FOUNDED IN THE 17TH CENTURY, WHEN THE BRATISLAVA FAMILY PALFFY HAS ALLOWED JEWS TO BURY THEIR DEAD NEAR THE FORTIFICATION ON THE DANUBE RIVERBANK. IT WAS USED TILL THE YEAR 1847. SINCE THAN IT WAS OUT OF WORK, THOUGH IT WAS PRESERVED. IN THE YEAR 1942 A LIQUIDATION IMPENDED THE CEMETERY. THE REASON WAS BUILDING OF A NEW TUNNEL AND REGULATION OF THE DANUBE RIVER. MOST OF THE GRAVES HAVE BEEN EXHUMED AND THE DEAD RESTS WERE BROUGHT OVER TO THE NEARBY NEW ORTHODOX CEMETERY. ONLY A SMALL AREA – 23 GRAVES INCLUDING THE GRAVE OF CHATAM SOFER – REMAINED. THROUGH THE INCREASE OF THE GROUND LEVEL ON THE DANUBE RIVERBANK, THE CEMETERY GOT IN THE UNDERGROUND. IT WAS COVERED BY CONCRETE PLATES AND REMAINED SO FOR A HALF OF A CENTURY. THE ONLY WAY TO REACH THE CEMETERY LEADED THROUGH AN INARTISTIC TIN SHELTER. ONLY THE NEW POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SITUATION IN NINETIETH ENABLED THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE CEMETERY. THE UNITED EFFORT OF THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY, THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE GRAVESITES OF GEONAI PRESSBURG RESIDING IN NEW YORK AND THE MUNICIPALITY OF BRATISLAVA SUCCEEDED TO REALISE THE IDEA OF CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL. THE TRAM TRACKS WERE MOVED, THE CEILING OF THE CEMETERY WAS RAISED, THE TOMBSTONES WERE RESTORED AND NEW SPACES FOR VISITORS WERE CREATED. TOWARDS THE ARCHITECTURAL CONCEPT ARCHITECT MARTIN KVASNICA CONCEIVED THE MEMORIAL AS A WAY, A WAY TO A STRANGE WORLD, A PILGRIMAGE TO THE GRAVES OF FATHERS. THE UNAMBIGUOUS LINE OF THE ENTRANCE PATH LEVITATES OVER THE AREA OF THE FORMER CEMETERY, COVERED BY TINY GRAVEL. THROUGH THIS BENCH GETS THE VISITOR TO THE BLACK PRISM, ARCHETYPE OF A TOMB. THE REINFORCED CONCRETE PRISM IS STEEPED BY BLACK COLOUR WITH ADDITION OF SILICATE, WHICH GIVES THE SURFACE INCONSPICUOUS DARK SHEEN. THE PRISM IS AN INTERFACE BETWEEN TODAY AND YESTERDAY, BETWEEN THE PRESENT AN THE PAST, BETWEEN PROFANE AND SACRAL WORLD. THE LIFTED ENTRANCE PATH AND THE BLACK OBJECT WITHOUT CEILING ARE THE STRONGEST AND MOST GENEROUS PARTS OF THE CONCEPT. THE FEELING OF LONELINESS AND ANXIETY THAT OVERWHELMS ONE IN THE CRAMPED SPACE BETWEEN THE BLACK WALLS UNDER THE DISTANT HAVEN BELONGS TO THE MOST REMARKABLE EXPERIENCES. THE WAY LEADS THE VISITOR FARTHER TO THE UNDERGROUND, WHERE THE RELIC OF THE ORIGINAL CEMETERY REMAINED. TWO INNER ROOMS, LIFTED OVER THE LEVEL OF THE CEMETERY, ARE DARK SIMPLE RECTANGULAR SPACES (ONE ROOM IS FOR LAYMEN, THE OTHER SERVES FOR PRAYING BELIEVERS) WITH GLITTERING BLACK FLOOR. HERE THE VISITOR COULD SEE THE GRAVES BEHIND THE GLASS WALL FOR THE FIRST TIME. A SUBTLE STEEL STAIRCASE LEADS THAN TO THE GRAVES AREA. HERE, BY THE GRAVES OF CHATAM SOFER AND OTHER IMPORTANT REPRESENTATIVES OF THE BRATISLAVA ORTHODOX JEWISH COMMUNITY CULMINATES THIS PILGRIMAGE. IN THE UNDERGROUND SPACE OF GRAVES THE CEILING WAS LIFTED AND VISUALLY CONNECTED WITH THE VISITORS SPACES. THE SYSTEM OF ILLUMINATED GLASS PLATES PENETRATES THE CEILING AND PASSES FROM INTERIOR TO THE EXTERIOR. THE FORMER UNCOMFORTABLE FEELING OF LOW, NOT MAINTAINED BASEMENT, DISAPPEARED IN THIS WAY COMPLETELY. LAYERS, SYMBOLS, NARRATIVES AND UNREASONABLENESS HOWEVER, ANOTHER REAL AND ILLUSORY LAYERS ENTER THE CLEAR CONCEPT OF THE MEMORIAL AND ITS SOBER ARCHITECTURE. ON ONE HAND THEY CONTRADICT THE CONCEPT OF THE MEMORIAL, ON THE OTHER HAND THEY DEVELOP THE UNIQUE EXPRESSION OF THE WORK. THE CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL IS PERCEIVED BY THE PUBLIC MOSTLY AS A MEMORIAL OF THE IMPORTANT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ORTHODOX JEWS. NEVERTHELESS, ON THE RELICT OF THE CEMETERY ARE BURIED ALSO THE FATHERS OF HEINRICH HEINE, KARL MARX AND OTHER PERSONALITIES, WHICH WERE CREATING THE UNIQUE ATMOSPHERE OF PRESSBURG AND EUROPE OF THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY. THE MEMORIAL COULD BE THAN PERCEIVED AS A RELIGIOUS JEWISH PLACE, BUT IN THE SAME TIME AS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT ON THE MAP OF EUROPEAN MULTIETHNIC AND MULTIRELIGIOUS CULTURE. WE COULD ASK, HOW HAS THIS MOMENT INFLUENCED THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE MEMORIAL? MOST EVIDENT IN THIS CONTEXT IS THE CONTINENCE OF ITS ARCHITECTURE. IN THIS REGION IT IS NOT USUAL TO BUILD MONUMENTAL TOMBS AND MEMORIALS. EVEN THE WAR MEMORIALS, WHICH ARE LARGE FOR LOCAL CONDITIONS, COULD NOT REACH THE ONES BUILT BY GREAT NATIONS. BIG GESTURES ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL HERE./2/ THE WORKS OF ART – COUPLE OF GATES AND THE BOWL FOR RITUAL HAND WASHING WERE DESIGNED BY FRANTIŠEK GULDAN IN CHARACTERISTIC NATURALISTIC-NARRATIVE PENCIL. THE FIRST GATE DIVIDING THE INNER SPACE OF THE PRISM FROM THE SURROUNDINGS IS INTENTIONALLY INARTISTIC TANGLE OF RUSTY STEEL BARS. THEY ARE IDEOLOGICALLY RELATED WITH THE WOVEN SHELTERS OF NOMAD JEWS, WHICH HAVE IN THE SAME TIME DIVIDED AND NOT DIVIDED THE ABODE FROM THE LAND. SIMILAR FABRIC USED TO DIVIDE PARTICULAR PARTS OF THE TEMPLE. COUPLE OF BIRDS HAVE ALREADY MADE THEIR NEST IN THE PLAITS OF THE BARS. THE GATE WANTS TO EVOKE THE THREE THOUSAND YEARS OLD HISTORY OF JEWISH RELIGION AND IN THE SAME TIME DIVIDE THE SURROUNDING WORLD FROM THE DARKNESS OF THE OLD CEMETERY. THE SECOND GATE IS MADE OF COMPACT PATINED STEEL. IT SHOULD REMIND OF THE PLATES ON THE STONE GRAVES. THE BOWL FOR RITUAL HAND WASHING IS A COMBINATION OF THE BASE MADE OF SMALL STONE FRAGMENTS AND PATINED COPPER BOWL WITH A COUPLE OF TIN POTS FOR RINSING THE HANDS. ALL THE WORKS OF ART ARE INSPIRING IN THEIR AD HOC NATURALISM, THOUGH GETTING INTO CONFLICT WITH PRECISE AND RATIONAL PURITY OF THE BUILDING. IF THE WORKS OF ART GETTING INTO CONFLICT WITH THE PURE BUILDING BECAUSE OF THEIR NARRATIVES, THAN THE DIRECT SURROUNDINGS CONTRADICTS THE BUILDING BY ITS ACCIDENTAL QUALITY – THE CONCRETE SUPPORTING WALL, THE TUNNEL PORTAL, THREE PREFABRICATED HOUSES IN THE BACKGROUND AND EVEN THE ENCLOSURE OF THE CEMETERY. HOWEVER THIS IS A NATURAL LOCAL STRATIFICATION, ACCIDENTAL OR SPONTANEOUSLY ACCUMULATED IN THE PLACE OF THE CEMETERY. THE FENCE, WHICH AROSE IN ADDITION, IS COPYING THE VARIOUS LINES OF THE PLOT AND ONLY ITS ENTRANCE PART LOOKS LIKE TO BE IN ADEQUATE CONNECTION WITH THE ABSTRACT BLACK PRISM. THE REALISED PROJECT STANDS THEREFORE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN A GESTURE AND A CLEVER SOLUTION OF A RESIDUAL TERRITORY. “THE MOST SUCCESSFUL CREATIONS OF ITS TIME RESULTED, ON MY OPINION, FROM UNREASONABILITY, WHILE THAT, WHAT RULES THE WORLD, WHAT GETS ON, DOMINATES AND OFTEN KILLS, HAPPENS ALWAYS IN THE NAME OF THE REASON, THE RATIONALITY.” STATED DANIEL LIBESKIND IN CONTEXT OF THE INTRODUCTORY COORDINATES OF HIS PROPOSAL FOR THE JEWISH MUSEUM IN BERLIN./3/ BY THE PROPOSAL FOR THE CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL PLAYED THE UNREASONABILITY ALSO AN IMPORTANT ROLE. THE FORM OF MEMORIAL IS LIKEWISE A RESULT OF VARIOUS ENTRIES: THE COHENS (THE DESCENDANTS OF TEMPLE PRIESTS) RULES, THE AWARENESS OF ACTUAL ARCHITECTONIC TENDENCIES, THE NARRATIVE SYMBOLIC OF WORKS OF ART, THE PROTECTION FROM THE ANTI-SEMITIC VANDALS, THE ORIGINAL BOUNDARIES OF THE CEMETERY, THE SHAPE AND THE SCALE OF THE CEMETERY RELICT AS A RESULT OF PARADOXICAL HISTORIC SITUATION, THE ORIGINAL CONCRETE BEAMS PLACED ON THE EDGE OF THE PLOT, THE PLANTED GREENERY, WHICH COULD BE ACTUALLY PLANTED ONLY BY GOD... IMAGINATION IN COMBINATION WITH UTILITARIAN REQUIREMENTS, ABSTRACTION AND IN THE SAME TIME NARRATIVES, REMEMBRANCE AND CONCEALMENT, THESE ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BRATISLAVA FAMOUS AND UNKNOWN MEMORIAL. ------- HENRIETA MORAVÈÍKOVÁ ------- NOTES: 1 BORSKÝ, M.: CHATAM SOFER. ARCH 7, 2002, N.6, P.24. 2 DULLA, M.: BETWEEN HEAVEN AND UNDERGROUND. CHATAM SOFER MAUSOLEUM IN BRATISLAVA. ARCH 5, 2000, N.2, P.22–24. 3 LIBESKIND, D.: ARCHITEKTUR UND SCHRIFTEN. MÜNCHEN – NEW YORK, PRESTEL 1994, P.100.
Thursday, 6 March 2008
Budapest The Beautiful Day 1
We are staying at the Marriott right on the Danube. The view is beautiful, to our right is the Chain Bridge, the left we are across from the Cittedel and opposite the Castle. Couldn't ask for a better spot! Yesterday we took the tram (which runs right past our door) to the Parliment, the Musuem of Ethnography, the train station with the fanciest McDonalds I've ever seen. After stopping for a spot of tea we went on to St Stephen's Bescillica. Not to forget something for a very late lunch. Dinner was at a fusion restaurant; wonderful fresh food with offerings from Japan, China, and of course, Hungry. The decor was very modern with the addition of some Tera Cotta warriors! Those guys do get around. When we were told that they did not serve mint tea we decided to return to our hotel for a cup. The TNS group had taken over the bar area so we had tea and dessert in the main restaurant. This hotel has an interesting feature, you can watch the kitchen over a live cam on your tv. We had been watching earlier in the day but weren't quite sure what they were making in the pastry kitchen. We quizzed the dining room manager and then asked if we could go on a tour of the kitchen. What a place! Would you believe besides the main kitchen, meat slicing area, banquet kitchen, room service area, there is a chocolate room (locked), pastry kitchen (how much larger it looked on tv) with its own fridge (locked), vegetable prep area with its own fridge (not locked!)main chef's office, toilets for the staff! What a place. The hotel is in the process of being renovated and they must have started with the restaurant. Good idea, bringing in revenue while renovation continues!
Monday, 18 February 2008
Pictures from Ithaca
Having some problems posting, here goes again!
Just found out there is a blog problem, so enjoy this for now and I'll get some more out asap. This is Buttermilk Falls.
Weekend in Ithaca, NY
Well, the family tradition continues, we're still celebrating our anniversary from December! Our friends Len and Susan Mark wanted to go away for a weekend to celebrate with us; we decided on Ithaca since we all have children who attended school there. David and I haven't been there for years so we decided this would be a great time to go. We stayed in a lovely B & B called the William Henry Miller Inn; what a wonderful choice! Thank you Len! Miller was the first architecture student at Cornell and his house proved that. It was built in the 1800's, was restored by this innkeeper and was just lovely! We stayed in the turret room; there was an alcove in the turret that had a bed in it; I would have preferred a chair to sit and read. Oh well, not my Inn! The breakfasts were delicious: each morning there was a fruit, baked with some kind of exotic cream or honey to go with it; breakfast choices were either eggs made into omelets with fresh vegetables or scrambled; French Toast stuffed with a mixture of cream cheese and apricots, garnished with fresh fruit and hot maple syrup. In case you weren't impressed with the breakfast, each evening starting at about 7:00 there were fresh baked desserts, hot tea, coffee and hot chocolate. Always a chocolate dessert, lemon squares, Red Velvet cupcakes, choclate cookies! Wow!
We visited 3 different waterfalls; Ithaca, Buttermilk and Taughannock. They were so very impressive, the power of the water and the beauty of the ice! What an experience!
Interesting story, walking to Taughannock Falls we struck up a conversation with a young man. While discussing cameras, lenses, tablets (need to find out more about these) he suggested that we come to where he works to see some of his equipment. An where does he work?? you guess it Amy, Jon Reis! So now we're into the small world category.
We visited 3 different waterfalls; Ithaca, Buttermilk and Taughannock. They were so very impressive, the power of the water and the beauty of the ice! What an experience!
Interesting story, walking to Taughannock Falls we struck up a conversation with a young man. While discussing cameras, lenses, tablets (need to find out more about these) he suggested that we come to where he works to see some of his equipment. An where does he work?? you guess it Amy, Jon Reis! So now we're into the small world category.
Thursday, 7 February 2008
Bee-Luther-Hatchee for Black History Month
Last night we went to see the current production at Stamford Theatre Works. The Show is called Bee-Luther-Hatchee. This is Black History month; historically STW does a production on this theme in February. This was by far the best Black History Month production I can ever remember seeing. Here's some of the information I found online about the show:
Synopsis:The editor of a best-selling memoir by an 80-year-old african-american woman finally meets the author, whom she has come to think of as a friend, even a mother figure. But the writer's true identify forces her to rethink her most basic beliefs about art and race. BEE-LUTHER-HATCHEE. noun. A far-away, damnable place; the next station after the stop for the Biblical hell; an absurd place or an ironic situation located in a particular place; a mythical place. -- Juba to Jive: A Dictionary of African-American Slang
Shelita Burns, an African-American editor, publishes Bee-luther-hatchee, the autobiography of a reclusive 72-year-old black woman named Libby Price. Shelita has never met Libby, and when the book wins a prestigious award she decides to deliver it to her in person. To her profound shock, the actual author of the book is a white man named Sean Leonard. Furious and resentful, Shelita accuses Sean of perpetrating a hoax, while he defends the book as a truthful work of imagination. Their confrontation, played out on the edge of the racial divide, builds to a jarring act of violence.
"In our world of hot-button topics and uncivil discourse, it's rare that you get to hear an eloquent, complex argument where the sides are so evenly matched that you keep changing your mind about who's "right." It's even more unusual to see such an argument laid out in a contemporary drama with well-rounded characters who are more than authorial mouthpieces. The combination makes Thomas Gibbons' Bee-luther-hatchee...a powerful, provocative piece of theatrical writing. You want to run down the street twisting people's arms to see it... Poetic and subtle, asking penetrating questions without simple answers...one of the best plays of the season. It deserves a large audience."
--Linda Eisenstein, Cleveland Plain Dealer
This production definitely had us debating the premise all the way home, and, it is still very much on my mind. If the show ends up in your area, I strongly suggest you go to see it!
Synopsis:The editor of a best-selling memoir by an 80-year-old african-american woman finally meets the author, whom she has come to think of as a friend, even a mother figure. But the writer's true identify forces her to rethink her most basic beliefs about art and race. BEE-LUTHER-HATCHEE. noun. A far-away, damnable place; the next station after the stop for the Biblical hell; an absurd place or an ironic situation located in a particular place; a mythical place. -- Juba to Jive: A Dictionary of African-American Slang
Shelita Burns, an African-American editor, publishes Bee-luther-hatchee, the autobiography of a reclusive 72-year-old black woman named Libby Price. Shelita has never met Libby, and when the book wins a prestigious award she decides to deliver it to her in person. To her profound shock, the actual author of the book is a white man named Sean Leonard. Furious and resentful, Shelita accuses Sean of perpetrating a hoax, while he defends the book as a truthful work of imagination. Their confrontation, played out on the edge of the racial divide, builds to a jarring act of violence.
"In our world of hot-button topics and uncivil discourse, it's rare that you get to hear an eloquent, complex argument where the sides are so evenly matched that you keep changing your mind about who's "right." It's even more unusual to see such an argument laid out in a contemporary drama with well-rounded characters who are more than authorial mouthpieces. The combination makes Thomas Gibbons' Bee-luther-hatchee...a powerful, provocative piece of theatrical writing. You want to run down the street twisting people's arms to see it... Poetic and subtle, asking penetrating questions without simple answers...one of the best plays of the season. It deserves a large audience."
--Linda Eisenstein, Cleveland Plain Dealer
This production definitely had us debating the premise all the way home, and, it is still very much on my mind. If the show ends up in your area, I strongly suggest you go to see it!
Sunday, 3 February 2008
Super Bowl Soup a Success!
Well, the decision was made, Moroccan Vegetable Soup! The extra bonus of this soup was a farmer's market held in White Plains this afternoon. So, relatively fresh carrots and parsnips! Very exciting! So here's the recipe if you want to try this soup:
1 TBS olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1-1/2 cups chopped carrots
1-1/2 cups chopped parsnips
8 ounces of pumpkin (I used 2 frozen packages of cooked butternut squash)
3 cups of vegetable stock (I ended up adding 2 extra cups of hot water, the soup was much too thick
salt
pepper
pumpkin pie spice
Heat the oil in a large pan. Add theonion and saute for about 3 minutes, until soft, stir occasionaly. Add the carots and parsnips and stir well. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Add the squash, cover and cook 5 minutes longer. Add the stock and seasoning and slowly bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 35 to 40 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Leve the osup to cool slightly. Puree either in a food processor,blender or with a submergable blender.
The soup was such a winner that I won the pool for the game! Go Giants!!!
1 TBS olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1-1/2 cups chopped carrots
1-1/2 cups chopped parsnips
8 ounces of pumpkin (I used 2 frozen packages of cooked butternut squash)
3 cups of vegetable stock (I ended up adding 2 extra cups of hot water, the soup was much too thick
salt
pepper
pumpkin pie spice
Heat the oil in a large pan. Add theonion and saute for about 3 minutes, until soft, stir occasionaly. Add the carots and parsnips and stir well. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Add the squash, cover and cook 5 minutes longer. Add the stock and seasoning and slowly bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 35 to 40 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Leve the osup to cool slightly. Puree either in a food processor,blender or with a submergable blender.
The soup was such a winner that I won the pool for the game! Go Giants!!!
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