Comments on: Will Alsop Martha Schwartz debate landscape architecture

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 04:54:03 +0000

You are right: I am not Chinese!
I guess it is partly that Chinese people have reason to worry about getting into trouble for speaking truly, and partly that speaking truly does not do much good. Here is a report about environmental activists who spoke the truth about the Three Gorges Dam: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2537279.ece
But similar criticisms were made of the Aswan High Dam, in Egypt, and it seems to have let the population double several times!

By: Ying

Ying — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 12:17:01 +0000

Yes, you are right,although you are not Chinese( I guess):-)

But most of Chinese,they even cannot speak straightly.Can you believe? But it is true.
In order to let you know this clearly, I take myself as an example.
I have two friends A and B.One day, I found that A changed her normal attitude to me.Just I felt. Afer some days, I talked with B.B told me that A had said many things about me.But the truth is that all of A’s thinking is 1000% her misunderstanding about me.

I found that the Chinese person like A is very stupid.1) why they donot speak to me straightly when they feel something not happy? maybe I will help them to get the right thinking 2) what they want to do? to speak to the other one 3)what are they thinking everyday? to make a better life,a worse life? Therefore, I found that the TRUE is much much better, so I love the true persons.:-) I HATE most of the Chinese who think like this. But most of the Chinese are like this!

BACK TO MARTHA, I like her very much,she is true,she is very close to my spirit. I believe that EVERY LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS WHO THOUGHT THAT “SHE IS CRAZY”, will like her after they meet her.

Anyway, I like this peom very much. It is a shame that my English can not compare with my Chinese. So I cannot write English Peom or understand English peom very well. But I can feel the “pictures and stories” in the poem. Thank you.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 05:23:11 +0000

Thank you for the link and the explanation. I tried a machine translation and found the text very interesting – but not quite good enough to be sure of the meaning. What do you think of this as a US account of a true person, in song:

Fighting soldiers from the sky
Fearless men who jump and die
Men who mean just what they say
The brave men of the Green Beret

I have the idea that Chinese people are very good at ‘plain speaking’ but that they see it (like laughter) as a pleasure for ‘friends and family’ rather than something to do in public – and I think the reason for this is that China has long been a highly organized society in which the good of all the people has been seen as more important than the good of an individual. And I am probably wrong!
Americans are very good at plain speaking in public and the British are half-way in between. And I should not make generalizations of this type!

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 06:17:46 +0000

I love art and I respect the total right of every artist to follow his/her own soul.
Landscape design can be a fine art but it can also be a social art and it is important not to muddle the two. If a client wants social design then there is no good in giving them a work of art. This applies to both architecture (eg Will Allsop) and to landscape architecture (eg Martha Schwartz). But of course: if the client wants a work of art then that is what they should have!
PS: what do you mean by a ‘true’ person?

By: Ying

Ying — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 22:25:33 +0000

It is interesting to see this debate video and the comments.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:36:25 +0000

Will Alsop may win a place in history as the founder of Buffoon Architecture.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:42:12 +0000

I think Andy is correct.

It’s clear the Mr. Alsop is quite threatened by LA’s. For whatever reason, as I can’t believe he actually believes what he’s saying, he conveys a very ignorant point of view more consistent with someone either just out of work or just out of college. I’m not sure what this will do for his reputation ultimately.

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:30:15 +0000

I believe Will Alsop is either threatened by or lacks an understanding of Landscape Architecture today.

By: stefan

stefan — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:53:08 +0000

its okay for a landscape to contain architectural elements, but thats a different thing

i think the public has the right to wary about architects getting involved with public space. after looking at the visual history of my own town, im aware of how their experiments with modernism and urban planning, not to mention their egos! have ruined it beyond repair, as they have with towns and cities across the country. not a record to be proud of. approach with caution i say!

By: Christine

Christine — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 02:21:53 +0000

‘Landscape should never try to be architecture?’
http://www.xarj.net/2007/gaudi-antoni-barcelona-photos/. Wow and subtle (and astonishing) at the same time!