Vanity Fair: Architecture's Modern Marvels- The Manil is 2nd on the List (Houston: schools)

[wpmeads]

Architecture's Modern Marvels | Culture | Vanity Fair (http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/08/architecture-survey-slideshow-201008?currentPage=all - broken link)

This is pretty cool. I heard this on NPR. Vanity Fair did a survey of architects to find out which buildings are the most influential architecture over the past 20 years. The Manil Collection came in at number 2 right behind The Guggenheim at Bilbao. If you want a short lesson architecture over the past 20 years, check out this NPR link listed below. It's an interview with Vanity Fair writer who did the survey.
Minimalism, Maximalism And Everything In Between : NPR

[AK123]

I guess you meant the Menil. Very cool, thanks for sharing!

[pach84]

Maurizio Cattelan. You can't handle the art.

[wpmeads]

Originally Posted by AK123

I guess you meant the Menil. Very cool, thanks for sharing!

Oops! That's what I meant! Anyways, in the architecture world, the Guggenheim at Bilbao is WIDELY considered to be greatest architecture built over the past 20 or 30 years so the fact that the Menil came in right behind Bilbao on this survey is a BIG deal, and especially considering everything on the list it came ahead of like the Seattle Library, The Beijing Olympic Stadium (the Birds Nest), Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, etc.

[houstonfan]

I do love the Menil building, the way the roof was designed to control the natural sunlight, etc, genious. But having said that , I take these lists with a big pinch of salt. Art is very subjective, and clearly some are much better than others, but I'd have a hard time ranking the top 50 structures of the world. Some are incredibly beautiful, others are more clever than beautiful, others are revolutionary even if not appealing to the mass. I have a small fascination with architectures and therefore, have been to the Guggenheim, the Louvre, CN tower, St.Paul, the Getty Museum, Pearl Tower, etc, etc, etc, etc. They are all magnificent and genious if you took the time to read up on them and learn of all the architectural feats/symbols in them. Ranking them, in my mind, would be baffling, they're all 1st places. That's like trying to rank who was more important in art: Picasso, Rembrandt, DaVinci, Monet,....??? Not trying to pee on Houston, but just saying....
Edit: Oh, I just noticed you said 'last 20 years', so maybe there weren't too many great masterpieces to choose from so maybe that ranking was a bit easier to accomplish. But still, overall, rating these things is somewhat subjective imo.

[Fairlady Z]

Originally Posted by houstonfan

I do love the Menil building, the way the roof was designed to control the natural sunlight, etc, genious. But having said that , I take these lists with a big pinch of salt. Art is very subjective, and clearly some are much better than others, but I'd have a hard time ranking the top 50 structures of the world. Some are incredibly beautiful, others are more clever than beautiful, others are revolutionary even if not appealing to the mass. I have a small fascination with architectures and therefore, have been to the Guggenheim, the Louvre, CN tower, St.Paul, the Getty Museum, Pearl Tower, etc, etc, etc, etc. They are all magnificent and genious if you took the time to read up on them and learn of all the architectural feats/symbols in them. Ranking them, in my mind, would be baffling, they're all 1st places. That's like trying to rank who was more important in art: Picasso, Rembrandt, DaVinci, Monet,....??? Not trying to pee on Houston, but just saying....
Edit: Oh, I just noticed you said 'last 20 years', so maybe there weren't too many great masterpieces to choose from so maybe that ranking was a bit easier to accomplish. But still, overall, rating these things is somewhat subjective imo.

According to the Vanity Fair article, the list polled some of the world's leading architects which included 11 Pritzker Prize winners (the nobel prize of architecture) and the deans of 8 major architecture schools. While still subjective, who better to ask than the architects themselves. But yeah, still surprising to say the least.

Here is the article itself (not the same link as above)

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/fe...?currentPage=1

[houstonfan]

Thanks for the links. Enjoyed the read. Thought it interesting that the architect wasn't even sure he liked his masterpiece at first. The article mentioned that aside from Bilbao, the rest was a crapshoot, with over 120 structures cited as among the most 5 important.
I do think the Menil is great though. At first, I didn't like its outside appearance at all, but spend a sunny morning there inside and you'll get it. I think if it was located in a more famous location, it would receive more acclaim. Every houstonian should visit it, lucky ot have it in our backyard.

[HtownLove]

There are so many treasures that make Houston wonderful. The Menil Collection just happens to be one of them. People who say there is no culture and nothing to do just doesn't seem to have their eyes open