I don't know about "nice"; the other kids (and most of the faculty) were scared of him :) [laughing right now] The day the announced the studio assignments, you could tell who got Stern by the look of grief on their faces. "I got Stern :(" He is a no nonsense type of guy and a straight forward man. No b.s. We got along just fine in studio and he was the only teacher in my school, besides Ken Frampton (who is an outstanding teacher and a class act) that lived up to the name. Stern's work/style is not my cup of tea, but he did not push it on me. He told me he used to be a hard core modernist when he was young -- he studied with Paul Rudolph, but then Venturi and that post-modernist (crap imo :) movement came along and he jumped ship and never looked back. Knows his stuff.
I haven't had much exposure to Paul Rudolph, unfortunately. When I was in Atlanta I went to the High Art Museum to see Piano's light scoops which was anticlimatic, but then drove out of town to this little college to visit Rudolph's Cannon Chapel from the 60's. Absolutely blew me away.
So I stopped reading and just look(ed) at the pretty pictures or if lucky, see the works in person. I personally think it is a degeneration of the field that (at least in school) it has been reduced it to almost a form of self-referential mixed media performance art. (That is why Bob Stern was disliked as a teacher -- he insisted you produce a building. No la-di-da.) This is not a provincial position and I most certainly do have a very rigorous internal conceptualization process when I design, tapping everything I know. But the whole process that I saw first hand reminded me of a variant of The Glass Bead Game. (Post WWII influx of the elite from Europe was a disaster for the authentic American art and architecture. A completely groundless inferiority complex, if you ask me, and the sooner we get over it, the better, imo.) > I haven't had much exposure to Paul Rudolph, unfortunately. When I was in Atlanta I went to the High Art Museum to see Piano's light scoops which was anticlimatic, but then drove out of town to this little college to visit Rudolph's Cannon Chapel from the 60's. Absolutely blew me away. Never been to Atlanta, but down South, I did see Kahn's Kimbell (must see -- pure genius) and definitely want to see the Salk Institute before I say adieu. I did get a chance to spend quite a bit of time in Piano's Centre in Paris which is interesting and does work but I find his later work to be another level entirely (you know Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre? I find it brilliant.) If you are in the East Coast, New Haven is a must stop. 2 great works of Lou Kahn (British M. is a jewel box, amazing craftsmanship) and the Yale school of architecture is by Rudolph, (pales :) right next to them. And one of these days, I'm gonna get my ass to Chicago and Illinois (finally) and do the FLW grand tour, and then swing SW to Taliesin and the rest of it. (Would love to see Sullivan's banks, as well. Poor man.) ]I will look up Cannon Chapel right after I click reply. Thanks!]