by Gail Ingis | May 29, 2014 | Events, News, Technical
Daniel Libeskind Designs Milan Expo Pavilion for Chinese Developer Vanke
New York-based architect Daniel Libeskind has proposed a twisted reptilian structure for the first ever expo pavilion for a stand-alone Chinese company.
Ancient Chinese teachings and Renaissance art are cited as some of the inspirations for the building, whose twisted shape is intended to create a “continuous flow” between inside and outside spaces. A staircase will also curve around the exterior, leading up to a rooftop terrace.
Responding to the Expo theme Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life, New York exhibition designer Ralph Appelbaum and Chinese graphic designer Han Jiaying will work with Libeskind to create an interior described by Vanke as a “virtual forest”. This will feature 300 multimedia screens, offering a look at the role of the dinner table in Chinese communities.
Designed for Vanke, China’s largest property developer, the Shitang pavilion is already under construction at the Milan Expo 2015 site, and was conceived by Daniel Libeskind as a sinuous volume with a scaly outer skin.
“In keeping with the theme of Expo Milano, Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life, we proposed the concept ‘Shitang’ for the Vanke Pavilion,” said Vanke chairman Wang Shi.
“Shitang in Chinese means ‘table’. We thus want to express our idea of urbanisation and community through the experience of food. Indeed, food is one of the most effective ways to understand a culture: the ritual of eating and talking together is important in every community because by eating together it is possible to get to know each other better,” he said.
Libeskind has previously said that he would not work in China on ethical grounds and urged architects to “think twice” about building in the country. Later that same year it was revealed by UK architecture newspaper BD that his practice was working on a 25,000-square-metre public building in Hong Kong.
“This is not a dogmatic idea for Daniel,” Nina Libeskind told BD in 2008. “Its a personal thing for him. We’ve seen what has happened in Tibet, but there is a rule of law in Hong Kong that Daniel is comfortable with.”
I was thrilled to find this pavillion through architectural news on Twitter and written up in de zeen magazine. I went exploring. This edifice is a fascinating structure with its twists and turns and will be available for all to experience in 2015 in Milan. Plan to go now.
Should we all go together?
by Gail Ingis | Jun 13, 2013 | History, News
Blue Lagoon in Fall.
Oil by Gail Ingis Claus
Once a reservoir, the blue Lagoon offers many moods, many views, much beauty. This lake is the kind you swim across, peddle through, fish for fun. There’s an association that was formed in 1952 when a local developer purchased Samp Mortar Lake from the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company. I walk around the lake everyday while I spot the ducks, the geese and the birds flit over the deep, dark, blue vast space. It’s the kind of lake that has a glass like appearance, sometimes black glass, sometimes blue, reflecting the trees, reflecting the docks, reflecting the boats of color at the edges. (more…)
by Gail Ingis | Apr 25, 2012 | Events, History, News
I thought passion pushed the artist. A gargantuan gut tumult right in the center of your body and words whirling in your head.
Threads of Wisdom by Gail Ingis Claus 36x36 Oil on canvas
“I must paint, I must write, I must sing. The drive is all consuming.
In last Sunday’s April 22, Connecticut Post, was the article, Art, religion collide in ‘My Name is Asher Lev.’ The article addresses the Chaim Potok novel “My Name is Asher Lev.” It tells the story of a Jewish boy determined to pursue a life in the world of modern art despite the opposition of his parents and the New York City religious community within which his family lives.
Potok set the novel in a very specific time and place, but the tale of a son having to battle his father to find his own way in the world has resonated with readers of all faiths since the book was first published in 1972.
Asher’s deeply religious father is puzzled and then outraged by his son’s fascination with drawing – from a very early age – ultimately forcing the boy to choose between his religion and his passion for art.
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Hasidic praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur
You don’t have to be Jewish or an artist to identify with Asher’s quest to be his own man and the result is a coming of age classic that has been added to many high school reading lists over the years.
My issue with this article are the words “quest to be his own man.” The passion to do art and the quest to be your own person are two separate issues. Writers must write, painters must paint, sculptors must sculpt. But growing up, finding your way in the world, the quest to be your own person is part of life. I am an artist, I must paint, I must draw, I have a quest to do art in some form, design, create, fill the negative space, but I am still finding my own way.
The recent stage adaptation, written by Aaron Posner, will be receiving its Connecticut premiere at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Starting May 2.
Hasidic with Shawls
“It’s a universal story. It’s about Hasidic Jews and a painter, but I think you could substitute almost anything you want,”
Actor Ari Brand
actor Ari Brand said of the way so many diverse people have related to the Potok tale for the past 40 years.
“The stronger the pull of the parents and the stronger the pull of a child’s passion, the greater the conflict,” Brand said of the battle so many young people have to go through over their career paths.
The quest to find your own way is a lifelong ambition. So tell me, are you still finding your own way? How, where, why?
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