by Lionel Bascom — March 28th, 2007 — 1 comment
The New York Observer says the Freedom Tower is just the tip of an iceberg for David Childs, “his Gotham iceberg.” So why not the Child’s Tower instead of the Freedom Tower?
When asked, “Why do you keep getting chosen to do these city projects?
Childs said “Well, I love them, frankly. And I also believe that architects should be involved in the cities in which they live. So I therefore have been involved in a lot of city planning through [the Municipal Art Society]. I’ve been around and have been involved in those things. We also have a very large office that, frankly, loves to do very large, complicated projects.
When asked “What’s your secret for negotiating all the bureaucratic and political obstacles?
Childs said “Bureaucratic isn’t so bad. I’m a big believer in community review: You get some of your best insights sometimes from those types of processes.
“The most important thing that an architect does—and this was taught to me by I.M. Pei many years ago—is choosing your plan. Sometimes, in the development world, we have had some developers whose aspirations didn’t meet the project that they were doing.
And that’s the dirty work. Any great architect can do something spectacular for City Hall. Sometimes a person who owns the piece of property, you can drag them from doing a B-minus building to doing a B-plus building, and you have achieved a lot. But it is a tough thing to do.
When asked, “You have said in the past that you wouldn’t mind it if people looked at one of your buildings and never said, “That’s a David Childs building.”
Childs said: “That’s wonderful. Often, architects can have a very clear style. Frankly, I believe that there are certain fundamentals with every project, but stylistically, they vary considerably. That’s because every project is different because of its site, location and program.
I am particularly happy in a project like the World Trade Center. I think it’s kind of funny to have an architect’s name attached to it. It should be the World Trade Center Tower 1, not the Childs Tower.”
11:21 PM in Uncategorized, World Trade Center, Ground Zero, Related Stories, Freedom Tower News
This interview with David Childs reveals a refreshing humility, indicating that this man’s focus centers on the joy of manifesting his vision. From his words, he expresses his inner truth that it is the process which brings one fulfillment of a dream. This is a characteristic of a true artist.
In addition, he appears to love the people and the city for whom he creates. Within the heart of an artist, love for the receiver of the art often inspires the intensity with which the creative vision unfolds.
We each participate in the creation of harmonic spheres of influence, one caring for another, intensifying the love around us, as we reach for purity of the Divine Song. Every resonance influences another, and we are all in accord with the grand oeuvre. As the words of John Donne remind us, “For whom does the bell toll; it tolls for thee.”
Jeanne · March 29th, 2007 at 3:33 am