Thank you Moby!

Your eloquent anecdote summarized perfectly my own dilemma.  How can my blog represent the core values of modernism and minimalism expressed by Mies van der Rohe (or Corbusier as you mentioned, or the Bauhaus, etc.) while promoting the more sculptural and less rational designs?  I love rectangles, yet I also love the fantastical sculptural architecture of John Lautner, Frank Gehry, and Santiago Calatrava (just to name a few).

I still prefer large structural gestures with clean surfaces (example Disney Concert Hall), versus fussy little details (like Victorian).  I see clearly that being an enthusiastic proponent is desirable, while being fanatically single minded is poor form (forgive the pun). So in summary…”Well said,”  mate!

mobylosangelesarchitecture:

so, sunday i was driving home and i happened to pass by a castle for sale.
what made this especially great:

  1. it was a block away from the soul-sucking sunset strip.
  2. it had a hand drawn ‘for sale by owner’ sign taped to the gate out front.
  3. it’s a really nice quasi-castle.
  4. it overlooks a frank lloyd wright house.

see, years ago i was a committed architectural modernist.  i loathed ornamentation, and i thought that year-zero for architecture began with corbusier.
anything ornamented or traditional or non-rectilinear was kind of loathsome to me, as i was a true believer in modernism.
and now?
well, life is short and i’ve come to view extremism (on my part and anyone else’s) with suspicion and distaste.
the extremist (whether religious or musical or architectural or political etc etc) usually is saying a lot more about themselves and their unresolved issues than they are about the object of their allegiance.
which leads us to wacky for-sale castles a block away from the sunset strip.
it’s ornamented, it’s traditional, and it’s amazing.
a modern house that looks like an l.a interpretation of an 18th century fantasy castle from the rhone valley.
or 17th century.
or 16th.
i have no idea.
except that whoever ends up living there is probably going to be pretty happy to jump around in the pool in the shadow of
their quasi-castle.

Wow, this is amazing!  Pav Love’s it!!! Inspiration abounds! I’m almost speechless…well not really. But this is something truly special.  It mixes organic (path/bridge is very similar to snake skeleton) with modern structural sculpture.  It somehow contrasts and blends with the old city, yet is fresh and visually arresting.  Aaaaah human achievement, bravo! - Pav-LOVE-ian
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Wow, this is amazing!  Pav Love’s it!!! Inspiration abounds!

I’m almost speechless…well not really. But this is something truly special.  It mixes organic (path/bridge is very similar to snake skeleton) with modern structural sculpture.  It somehow contrasts and blends with the old city, yet is fresh and visually arresting.  Aaaaah human achievement, bravo!

- Pav-LOVE-ian

Wife Acceptance Factor ( for large electronic items).

Too funny yet soooooo real!

Wife Acceptance Factor, Wife Approval Factor, or Wife Appeal Factor[1] (WAF) Stereophile magazine reviewer and music professor Lewis Lipnick is credited with the coining of the term.[8] Lipnick himself traces the origin to the 1950s when hi-fi loudspeakers were so large that they overwhelmed most living rooms. Lipnick’s wife, arrived at a different term: Marriage Interference Factor (MIF).

WARNING:

The stereo system pictured below at approx. 100 cubic feet produces:

  • WAF = LOW
  • MIF = HIGH
  • likelihood of spousal banishment/exile = HIGH

Yet it produces hundreds of watts of sweet, sweet music!

Photo copyright Pav-LOVE-ian So what is the recipe for High Fidelity? 1 - PART: Large high quality speakers are a must, headphones and most small speakers just can’t get the job done.  Yes, boys and girls those speakers are 4 feet tall! Legendary Polk Audio SDA-1c’s.  $2,000. a pair in 1987! In the words of American V-8 lovers “There is no replacement for displacement.”  You need ample dimensions and a well made enclosure to produce the full range of sound.  Just one example is how the sound of a concert grand piano can not be fully replicated by a smaller piano. 1 - PART: A music source that hasn’t had the details compressed out of it.  MP3’s (or equivalent compressed formats) are NOT lossless.  Real analog LP’s or Original CD’s are best. 1 - PART: Quality 2-channel amplifier.  In this case I have a Kenwood (also 1987 vintage).  I really wish I had Carver tube amps, but that is for the ultra well financed audiophile. I’m not entirely sure why, but I’ve been through 3 different surround sound (5.1 to 7.1) amps and they just don’t produce the same quality of music as my old 2-channel amp. Mix all three incredients liberally and savor fully!!! Proof positive - I put on the amazing Eddie Van Halen guitar solo “Eruption” and everyone thought there was actually someone playing the electric guitar in the house.  Then I played The Crystal Method - Vegas - CD and heard ambient sounds and details I never heard on my MP3’s. You owe it to yourself to experience the brilliance of High Fidelity!!!! - Pav-LOVE-ian
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Photo copyright Pav-LOVE-ian

So what is the recipe for High Fidelity?

1 - PART: Large high quality speakers are a must, headphones and most small speakers just can’t get the job done.  Yes, boys and girls those speakers are 4 feet tall! Legendary Polk Audio SDA-1c’s.  $2,000. a pair in 1987!

In the words of American V-8 lovers “There is no replacement for displacement.”  You need ample dimensions and a well made enclosure to produce the full range of sound.  Just one example is how the sound of a concert grand piano can not be fully replicated by a smaller piano.

1 - PART: A music source that hasn’t had the details compressed out of it.  MP3’s (or equivalent compressed formats) are NOT lossless.  Real analog LP’s or Original CD’s are best.

1 - PART: Quality 2-channel amplifier.  In this case I have a Kenwood (also 1987 vintage).  I really wish I had Carver tube amps, but that is for the ultra well financed audiophile. I’m not entirely sure why, but I’ve been through 3 different surround sound (5.1 to 7.1) amps and they just don’t produce the same quality of music as my old 2-channel amp.

Mix all three incredients liberally and savor fully!!!

Proof positive - I put on the amazing Eddie Van Halen guitar solo “Eruption” and everyone thought there was actually someone playing the electric guitar in the house.  Then I played The Crystal Method - Vegas - CD and heard ambient sounds and details I never heard on my MP3’s.

You owe it to yourself to experience the brilliance of High Fidelity!!!!

- Pav-LOVE-ian

High Fidelity!

This weekend I had one of those glorious Pav-LOVE-ian responses, where I felt renewed passion for a lost love.  It struck me how jaded one can become when surrounded by the unimpressive. 

The previous quote was about being the headmaster of the old school, which is how I felt as I took my massive stereo out of storage and felt its epic sound.

I sing the praises of old school High Fidelity!  Oh how the MP3 and iPod world have dulled my love of music.  Sure it is convenient, but do you know what you are missing? I have often wondered why I haven’t been truly excited by music in a long time.

I have found the answer.

- Pav-LOVE-ian

Score! More great photos & the witty Moby-prose always makes me smile.  Now I’m curious & must visit this cool building.

- Pav-LOVE-ian

mobylosangelesarchitecture:

ok, i promised some updates featuring buildings with honest to goodness architectural significance, so: here’s a building with honest to goodness architectural significance.
it’s:
a rare oscar neimeyer designed round spaceship building in the middle of l.a (well, the middle of west hollywood, which would be on the outskirts of l.a if you lived in east l.a).
apparently oscar neimeyer designed this amazing building in 1974 for a plastic surgeon and then it was bought in the 80’s by mark mothersbaugh from devo (i’m going to name-drop; i learned these things from mark when i was over there the other day).
i’m posting black and white pictures but if possible i highly recommend seeing it for yourself(ves), as in person it’s bright, swimming-pool green.
although now that i think about it i don’t know of too many bright green swimming pools.
so i guess ‘swimming pool green’ kind of makes no sense.
how about…7-up green?
or shamrock green?
you get the point: it’s bright green.
in context it’s amazing and random, as it’s surrounded by some egregiously banal west hollywood architecture. but smack dab in the
epicenter of tawdry west hollywood there’s this amazing oscar neimeyer designed green mark mothersbaugh spaceship.

thanks

-moby