And it is something that we seek in our own work. We like this informality, this looseness. The scripts were loose, the filmmaking was in a cinema verité style which is more based on improvisation and has an informal quality. He approached filmmaking in a way that was radical at the time. I have been a huge fan of John Cassavetes work since I was in grad school. It helps us get a different perspective - a different way of seeing. We try to always look outside the discipline of architecture as much as possible. How do artists like Cassavetes influence your design process? How closely do you analyze these artistic works? Do they influence your own design philosophies or is it more about developing attitudes or aesthetics towards specific projects? You shared a still from one of his movies of two characters interacting in a stairwell and referred to stairs as primary spaces. I was particularly interested in the John Cassavetes reference. In your latest lecture titled 13 Ways, you reference several artists including Gordon Matta-Clark, Sol LeWitt, Agnes Martin, Polly Apfelbaum, Marcel Duchamp, John Cassavetes, and Robert Gober.
#STELLA ARCHITECT FREE FREE#
As community buildings, libraries have seen changes in program over the years, and remain one of the few free public resources that cities provide.Ģ.
This question is one of the reasons that I am so passionate about public libraries - especially branch libraries because they serve smaller communities often outside the city center. Who gets access to what and how is a basic question that we should all be asking. They all have an impact on the way that we provide a message that is welcoming and equitable. The way that space has been defined, produced, and organized has political impact and it can happen at many scales - the city, the building, and even smaller installations. Architecture plays a role and is implicated in some of these injustices. There is so much inequality that needs to be addressed in whatever way that we can. Things have moved quickly while other things have slowed down, and more than ever it is a time to be active, but it is also a time to slow down and take the time to listen. The coupling of the social and political unrest this past year with the pandemic has been interesting in many ways. Ha! That is not an easy question to start an interview with! In many ways, yes, I think that we are and should be experiencing a revolution - on many levels - social, political, environmental, among others. In 1922, le Corbusier wrote: "It is the question of building which lies at the root of the social unrest today architecture or revolution." Would you say we are currently in a state of revolution? Which side is architecture on? How can architecture act as an instrument for social change? You mentioned politics of space architecture in a political context questioning implicit biases and norms democratic space and revolution in your talk. You gave a lecture immediately following the attacks on the capital this January. Thirteen Ways of Looking at a House, their next book, will be available in print this Fall, featuring 13 houses and 13 topic texts on the elements of domestic space.Ĭonceptual drawing of Brooklyn Ferry "book worm" installation.ġ.
While they have at least 13 reasons why and maybe even the next 13 lined up, it is clear that their studio will never have designed enough buildings or written enough books. With multiple branch libraries under construction and while actively teaching a studio at Cornell AAP on the building type, Betts is fascinated with the generosity and multi-dimensionality of the rare, free, and public space of the library and the amenity it provides both communities and architects as a fruitful design problem.įearless in their approach, welcoming of paradox and contradiction with open arms, and always looking beyond the discipline, LEVENBETTS believes in art, architecture, and the library as tools for social change and even revolution. The buildings, most of which are in New York State, often accommodate many programs, serving wide-ranging populations, and integrating themselves into intricate and complicated contexts.
Betts and her buildings are never one thing or from one idea, represented in one style, or serving of one purpose. When it comes to interviews, it seems there are also 13 ways of answering a question. When it comes to her architecture, there are 13 ways of looking at a site 13 ways of scaling a motif 13 ways of orienting an object 13 ways of drawing a line 13 ways of sourcing a material 13 ways of ascending, of reclining, of passing through. For Stella Betts, of New York's award-winning firm LEVENBETTS, there are at least 13 ways of approaching a design.