A Building for the Modern Age

Every building should tell a story - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by Trebor Snillor
Today it is muggy and warm. It rained earlier and the humid air gives me an all-over sticky feeling. My yard is very happy so I’ll try to be OK with it.

My blog topic today is of minor historical and cultural note -- I speak of none other than the Empire State Building in Manhattan that I visited in 1998. My thoughts about the building are not especially structured so I’ll just throw out some bulleted observations..

o The 103-story 1931 tower is an outstanding example of art deco. It has a more commanding presence than really any other New York building.
o It’s one of the tallest structures in midtown so it stands out sharply.
o It was built in 410 days, a schedule that would be daunting even now.
o It cost $40,948,000 even in depression-era dollars.
o The building was a culmination of roaring-20’s confidence but was completed just as the depression started.
o Its many vacant floors resulted in the nickname “Empty State Building”.
o The building has starred in 3 famous movies -- King Kong, An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle.
o It was included as one of the Seven Wonders of the World -- and still is a huge tourist draw in New York.
o It’s not the newest, tallest or most expensive building even in New York.. but it’s an almost universal reference point for “tall modern skyscraper”.

Just as with people, it stands as proof that style, stance and perseverance are just about as important as anything else. At least for the lasting impression.

Let's consider -- what is a famous tall building anywhere in Texas? We have some, and a commercial real estate agent would be glad to point you towards Thanksgiving or Reunion Towers in downtown Dallas. We have historically great structures like San Antonio’s Alamo and Austin’s Capitol Building.. But nothing -- absolutely nothing in Texas projects the midcentury can-do confidence of Manhattan’s art deco tour de force. The embossed mural on the ground floor tells the story of technological victory in Modern Times - a miracle decade of jazz music, skyscrapers, sports cars, flappers and all that man can do in his pursuit of business or pleasure.

Could the Empire State Building be built ever again in Texas or New York? Let’s say a modern 21st century facsimile? Let me count the ways and reasons not ..

o Real estate investors wouldn’t want to cede an entire city block for one building.
o Since 9/11 tall buildings are considered a security risk.
o Tall buildings might also be considered non-ecological.
o We live in an age of muted, me-too architecture -- a building which proclaims itself or emblazons a confident story would be considered too cocky and overconfident. -- politically incorrect.

Ask yourself -- what’s the last nice, new public building you entered in the USA? You probably said, “This is OK”... nothing like “Let me get a picture… Let me post this on Facebook”. There are some exceptions to my architectural critique although few and far between. The Getty Museum in LA is a stand-out. But much as I earlier described 2014 cars as bland “competent boxes”, I could use the identical words to describe new buildings in 2014. In closing, let us pay homage to the place and the time that gave us an American symbol, a true wonder of the world -- the Empire State Building.

Addendum 5/11/14 -- It's funny to note that The Mindy Project just did an entire show based around the Empire State Building in last week's episode. It's part of our national lexicon -- we can't get away from it. :-)

© 2014 Snillor Productions

Chicken Fried

Cage in top form - Pic courtesy of WorldView

by Trebor Snillor
Today I’m on vacation, sitting at the Knox Street Starbucks. Thought I’d have the whole place to myself and I’m amazed to see it crammed with people. I’m having to type this from an arm chair -- a first for this blog. The weather is overcast and cold -- 54 degrees outside. The national news isn’t too exciting. Kathleen Sebelius just resigned from Health & Human Services.. considering the disaster that was the Affordable Care rollout I’m surprised it took that long. From various summaries I saw, the IT aspect was almost an afterthought for the senior politicos involved. Obamacare finally signed up 7.5 million people but not without a protracted period of apologies, fixes and finger-pointing. With that said, I’ll move along to my movie review..

SOUTHERN GOTH

I love movies with a Southern setting. There’s something about the crazed emotions and perverse trajectories of faded gentry in a Louisiana swampland -- it gets right down to the business of human frailty. There is but a thin veneer of politesse to conceal the criminal pasts and sexual improprieties of the characters at hand. Why this has to happen in Jackson, Monroe or Dallas (never Detroit) I don’t know. I guess the North just lacks tempestuousness.

This weekend I watched two movies that easily rise to the occasion -- August: Osage County and a sleeper movie titled Joe. Osage County is an all-star movie giving us the highly dysfunctional Weston women in a large farm house near Tulsa. Meryl Streep is a standout as the bitter, nasty, pill-addled matriarch battling mouth cancer. Her three grown daughters all bear the marks of that turbulent upbringing, with their own individual baggage to carry along. The movie does not disappoint -- it gives us a suicide and incest before the day is done. Southern gothic movies walk a fine line between serious storytelling and self-parody. Unfortunately, so does real life, so maybe that’s OK after all.

JOE

Nicolas Cage is one of my favorite actors and to me at least -- he’s a living legend. His bearish persona is balanced by a smart sensitivity that is rarely seen. The 50ish actor has lapsed into some silly exploitation films like Ghost Rider, but in the movie Joe -- we get to see Cage at his best. In this movie he plays a burly ex-convict trying to rehabilitate himself as a foreman on a crew of day laborers who clear trees out of pastures. He extends a helping hand to a 15 year old boy from an abusive home; from there Joe is ensnared in a toxic fight with the boy’s ruthless father and a scar-faced associate. Joe was filmed in Austin, Bastrop and Taylor, Texas -- all places close to where I grew up. The movie has an authentic feel to it -- even if it takes you to places that are squalid and crude. Joe is rated R and earns that in a couple of places -- don’t watch if you’re squeamish. Do watch if like me -- you are a fan of Nicolas Cage.

CONCLUSION

The sun has come back out and Starbucks is less crowded. I have actually composed this entire article balancing a Chromebook in my lap. If you’re looking for some good movies I’d recommend either of the above. Joe is actually in theaters now -- I viewed a “pre-release” on Apple TV for $6.99.

© 2014 blogSpotter