Constantin Xenakis - on Architecture and Travel

Constantin Xenakis (More interviews from this person)
Artist
country:Greece
website: www.constantinxenakis.com

Bio

Constantin Xenakis was born in Cairo, Egypt, on 28 December 1931.
He has lived in Paris since 1955.
In 1996 he was awarded the Prix Delmas by the Institut de France,
at the recommendation of the French Academy of Fine Arts.

Scholarships:
1970, Scholarship of the D.A.A.D Arts Programme, Berlin.
1980, Research Scholarship from the French Ministry of Culture.

Community Action:
Member of Administrative Committee of the Salon de Mai, Paris, from 1968 to 1983
Member of Founding Committee and Judges Panel for the "Vitry-sur-Seine" Painting Prize, France, from 1969 to 1990.

:: Photo information and credits:

1 > Paintings | Acrylic on canvas | 1972 | Stencils
photo courtecy © Constantin Xenakis A.D.A.G.P., Paris

2 > Objects | Mixed media | 1989-2006 | 14 Monologues
photo courtecy © Constantin Xenakis A.D.A.G.P., Paris

3 > Islington Central Medical Centre / Andrew Carr/Brady Mallalieu
photo courtecy © Constantin Xenakis A.D.A.G.P., Paris

4 > Paintings | Acrylic on canvas | 1976 | Architectural dead-end
photo courtecy © Constantin Xenakis A.D.A.G.P., Paris

5 > Paintings | Acrylic on canvas | 1976 | Y
photo courtecy © Constantin Xenakis A.D.A.G.P., Paris

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Most recent list of themes (View all)

on Architecture and Theory
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on Architecture and Travel

Kim Herforth Nielsen - on Architecture and Travel

My point of view:
on Architecture and Travel

Interview Date: 16-11-2011

VIEW the entire interview on VIDEO!

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What is the importance of traveling especially for architects and for humans in general?

For some reasons, traveling, it doesn’t matter if you’re an architect or just an artist, is a very positive thing, because you can form your education. You can see what is good and what is not good. So, I’m for the “voyage”, the traveling. Sometimes, I used to say long time ago, the school of fine arts is not useful anymore. What is useful for me is to see the most possible there is in your life to see, to listen, to record and to work. For me this is the most important thing because you can compare. You should not only travel as a tourist, of course why not, but also as a student, with the mentality of the student. I mean, with the mentality of a young person who wants to discover the world. That’s what I’m doing.

I’m not really young, but still my pleasure is to discover. So, that’s for me the biggest school. I remember once in a big exhibition in Berlin, I had to give my, let’s say education. So, I said I’ll give that, that, that, all the schools and studies I did and finally, the last word was I feel I’m self-taught. That’s a very important thing. The school cannot give you the whole material. The school can give you the way to think, which is quite good, but the rest you are to do it yourself. So, personally I say, visit, look, travel.

What do you think is the added value that architecture creates within a city?

That is a difficult question because we have to define what “value” is. In my personal opinion, good architecture, done by good people who respect the past and don’t destroy it, that’s a big subject; how to conserve the past, especially the best things from it. Because there is no doubt that there is no present without the past and there is no future without present. So, an architect has the obligation, from my point of you, to respect the past, to understand, not, I would say, 100%. We don’t need to be that extreme. It is impossible to be in the soul or the mind of an ancient Greek who built the Parthenon.

My question is, if we go back to the past, for instance, how the Greeks built the most successful and big challenge which is Parthenon without having the means we have today. That’s a good question. So, to understand the people is not so easy. What I mean is to respect. Respect the past, try to understand and then enforce with, of course the past, but also with the need, because we have different needs to create an environment that respects the past and the present.

At this point I would like to give you a piece of information, because I used to go to Japan twice a year, a long time ago and I would advise that trip. The thing that I love about Japan, which has been through the ages somewhat destroyed, what surprised me the first time, was that they had two saloons, the traditional saloon and the modern saloon. Of course the people laughed, but it was great that they had the past and the modern as well. So, I had a discussion on that, and they told me that it’s not different, the past is the present, “we don’t put a wall to define that the past is up to this point, now we have to start a new life. Life continues”. That’s what I love about Japan. That was good information for me to bring to the western countries, that it’s very important to respect the past, to understand it. Of course, I’m all for creation, you cannot repeat something. Repetition is not creation. But, you have to respect. That’s what I have to say about the added, I don’t want to use the word value, but seeds to respect and rebuilt something. During the construction, when you realize the value which helps people today to really appreciate the past, I think that’s a success.

At the end, can you please provide your personal proposal for 10 buildings (constructed and visitable) which you think as the most important worldwide that someone must visit anyway?

For me, Paris, a city that I know probably better than any other place, is a city that has been the less destroyed and has many good things. But, I want to come back to my country, my country of origin, which is Greece. A country I criticize. Once I went to an island named Chios and for some reason, I don’t want to say more, I went to Mesta and discovered the most beautiful place in the world. Because they had respected the past and for some reason in this country, everybody has to visit Mesta, it’s a good example.

When I had the “One Man Show” in Rhodes, I even had two or three pages material, and they said “Look, I’m very sorry”, because Rhodes is in the middle of the Mediterranean, everybody passes Rhodes from the ancient times, Greeks, Muslims, Egyptians, Romans… You cannot find a place so rich and the Castle is unique in Europe. But they said no. Rhodes can be the most beautiful attractive museum even in the world.

The human being today can dream only about what happened in the past and what he can do for the present and think a little bit about the future. Of course, New York was for me a big city. I discovered New York when I went there for a festival. But, New York, which is a city of today, you can find it in China, in Honk Kong and so on. But, that’s not my problem. My problem is the communication of all these countries. It’s very easy to build a new building, but to create an environment, that’s the most difficult.

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