Eric Owen Moss

About

Born in 1943 in LA, California

Received his BA from the university of California, LA in 1965 and his

Masters of Architecture from the university of California, Berkeley in 1968.
Received a second masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of
Design in 1972.

Had held teaching positions in Harvard and Yale.

His buildings are unique in the sense of composition, material and craft.

To understand new ways to think, to see and to understand architecture is

his point of departure (multi-pragmatic, innovate approach -> contrast
with traditionalist, conservative theories).

Believes that there can be no general architecture thinking since human

affairs continue to be re-imagined (post-modern paradigm).

Avoid traditional organization strategies, standardized solutions,

and any notion of architecture as a repetitive style. (taken from his
website http://ericowenmoss.com/office/)

Context - "Which truth do you want to tell"

1991

1991 is the widely accepted date which marks the end of the cold war
(1947-1991).

Theory - " Which truth do you want to tell "

"Does the bank define what's real, or are you prepared to contest that?" -
shows how dismissive he is of all established authoritative moulds.

He does not accept the rational formula (the machine for living 'dogma')
as a rule someone should follow when building architecture but he
explores new possibilities by removing any architectural preconceptions
(an architectural preconception would be like what the traditionalists think
- that classical forms are the only forms which can clearly give a
message).

Since there are no preconceptions he begins this manifesto by asking

"which truth do you want to tell" (compare to existentialist philosophy
where one creates their own values).
 The designer's personal experiences affect the work (the way one thinks is
determined by ones experiences), when you evaluate a designer's work -
you see that it starts off as extroverted (responding to the world as
external stimuli) but then changes to a more introverted approach (where
the world is understood based on the person-subject's initial perceptions
of the world). This final approach is seen as a boundary which can be
expanded ("punch a hole in your sky") by looking at someone else's work,
since everyone sees the world differently you begin to understand that the
way you see it is not the only way, your enclosure is something you have
created not something that is there.

This kicking of the lid/ punching a hole in the sky is what buildings should
do, this is the impact a building should have on its observers. This is why
buildings are social and political (Greg Lynn - "What is more social and
political than aesthetics?").

There is no right or wrong but a number of rights and wrongs overlapping

(compare this idea to Venturi's Complexity and Contradiction). However
there isn't an infinite number. Owen Moss warns about not falling into the
'everything's relative pick a card' trap of subjectivism (which leads to
Nihilism). Buildings make things available.

To avoid this trap one reacts by finding a causal explanation, a logic, a

sequence for the design decisions one does (the approach they take when
teaching design at UoM). Owen Moss does not deny that there isn't logic,
he claims that there are multiple. He mentions that there is a good
argument as to why the Modernist movement ended but it is a one-sided
argument.

When someone has a rule that doesn't work (modernism was a rule that
didn't work) it doesn't mean that there are no rules ( a fall into nihilism)
but that one must try to modify and adjusted.

For Owen Moss, practicing architecture is about challenging the

established conventions (and un-conventions) of architecture and the way
people experience their lives.

One should see past interventions not as mistakes, but should extract
from them the structure that made them up (ex. The railroad car can bring
to light the beauty of machinery, the idea that a rationalist pursuit could
lead to an understanding of the world (lead to stylistic beauty) etc.) these
things should not be worshipped but should be seen as additions to a vast
pool of knowledge which one can extract from.

Obligations of the world should not become reasons for not doing
things, Owen Moss mentions that what the likes are the helicopters sent
to Iran which didn't work because they got sand caught in their propellers.
Imagine someone liked such a thing, they would be called simple minded
and oblivious as if they didn't understand the way the world worked.
 However do they know how the world really work? The way the world woks
changes too (classical thought became modern thought which became
post-modern thought). Owen Moss believe that with his architecture he
can change the way the world works - not only the way you see it but the
way it actually is.

"When you do this, you're always denying connections... and then you
suddenly start seeing all the connections".

Comments

Owen Moss developed his theory which speaks heavily on change because
he went through a period of great change an innovation (what brought
about post-modern thinking in all fields?) such as the end of the cold war,
the collapse of the Berlin wall, the age of the computer etc. His
architectural thinking reflects his influences, the time he lived through
(Zeitgeist notion).

He truly believes that architecture is a tool which can open and liberate
minds.

Case Studies

The Box, Culver City, California, 1994.

Guggenheim, Helsinki, Finland, 2014.