Word: chaining
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...forget that Frank Gehry, who is the world's most famous architect, was once just the world's most famous strange architect. That was in the 1980s, when to some people his angular rethinking looked all elbows. That was also when his mixture of high concept with cheap materials--chain link fencing, corrugated metal, pressed plywood--was getting his work labeled "populist," which generally means brainy but cheap. In 1981, when he was named Architect of the Year by his peers in California, he figured he should use the opportunity to accept his prize with a talk titled...
Eventually he decided to look for freedom in his own backyard. Literally. In 1978 he renovated the small Santa Monica house where he still lives with his second wife Berta, turning a conventional pink Dutch colonial into an explosion of cinder blocks, corrugated steel and chain link. It instantly became one of those places that some say is an icon and others an eyesore. But its picture appeared everywhere, and it put him on the map of cutting-edge architects. Not long after, he decided to follow his bliss and do only the kind of work he wanted...
...FRANCISCO--As Widener Library slumbers in the dimness of a year-long renovation, the new San Francisco Public Library shines in the California sun a continent away. For a budding scholar accustomed to Widener's overbrimming stacks, tiny windows and rustic chain-link and gun-metal decor, the glossy Main Library in San Francisco's Civic Center seems like a revelation, the Tiffany's of libraries. Four years ago architectural critics and booklovers alike predicted that the Main would set a new standard for libraries--a spiffy, sparkling alternative to old caverns like Widener. But as the glow of newness...
...Public Library brochure quotes the head city librarian: "Modern libraries are becoming much-needed community centers for people." No doubt community centers are fine things, but libraries already have a job to play. The Main Library should take a page from Widener: Forget fancy atriums and identity politics. The chain-link fences don't matter. The library should be a home for books; the architecture will take care of itself...
...there are clearly some very real issues that need to be resolved. Like any new product entering the food chain, genetically modified foods must be subjected to rigorous testing. In wealthy countries, the debate about biotech is tempered by the fact that we have a rich array of foods to choose from--and a supply that far exceeds our needs. In developing countries desperate to feed fast-growing and underfed populations, the issue is simpler and much more urgent: Do the benefits of biotech outweigh the risks...