Night at the Movies with Rilwan Kujenya
Movie Night | The BAC: Rem Koolhaas: HouseLife
Last week, the BAC screened its first film of the semester in the loft. The night was hosted by Richard Griswold and the Student Development Office. There were chips, dip, popcorn, and no seats. The loft was packed, but the stepup made this sort of cool, cozy sense of a "big family." Sort of like my home in New York during Thanksgiving. We all really enjoyed the night. I especially enjoyed the cookies, and the film, too.
The movie was an awesome documentary review of the Maison a Bordeaux designed by Rem Koolhaas. The film brings the audience into the world of an inhabitant of the space - in this case, the cleaning-woman. The audience watches as she keeps the house, the camera crew in tow.
I thought the documentary was interesting. I enjoyed the showcase of the extravagance of the home, like the huge curtain that lines the large window that wraps around the house, and the automatic door operation system, which the maid, rightfully, calls "Le Joystik." I also enjoyed how the house is practically an expo for automated systems in homes. Nearly every part of the house is automatic, from the joystick-controlled doors to the room that happens to also be an elevator. Despite its clumsiness, I also like the huge bookcase that rises from the ground floor through the height of the building. However, it's flanked on both sides by the house's two main vertical circulations. This seems interesting in theory - one would think that it would be cool to to pick up an interesting book and skim through it as one is climbing up the stairs or riding on the hydraulic lift - but one must also consider that people may knock books off of the shelves while climbing up the stairs every now and then. Consider, too, that picking up those books and reshelving them might just be a royal pain.
I thought the house had a cool aesthic quality. Something about the exterior screams "silo." The rust-colored exterior, which stretches along the horizon set next to a courtyard with a spiraling walkway, makes me think of the end result of the juxtaposition of a military installation and serene outdoor gallery spaces. People say the circular window on the second level of the house reminds them of a giant block of swiss cheese, but I'd like to see them as bullet holes in an armor. Built out of metal and concrete, this building achieves a very rigid appearence, but the color scheme is subtle. I feel there is something about rust that allows it to blend in some well with the surrounding greeneries.
One would assume that the house would be really practical, but that is certainly not the case. The house is a nightmare to maintain. The stairs are tight, narrow, and somewhat dangerous. The grass in the garden is constantly being burned due to the heat created by the reflective glass doors, and the huge windows require a professional cleaning team. I saw these things as incredible flaws with the house. Even worse than the things I have listed so far, the house leaks everywhere. Every nook and cranny. I thought this was terribly wrong. In fact, I was shocked by the fact that an architect of this stature could even design something like this. This is hardly a stellar work of Koolhaas.
I did, however, enjoy film night. We rounded off the night with some more chips and dip, and we watched a brief interview with Rem Koolhaas, reflecting on the film, the Maison a Bordeaux, and various architectural issues. I was left dying for the next movie. Of course, I hope next time we host it in Cascieri Hall.
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For more reviews and posts by Rilwan Kujenya, search his name at the top of the screen.
(Image: cover, The New Yorker, December 1, 2008)
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