Invisible Cities Concept City Remote Cities Nature and

Invisible Cities: Concept City, Remote Cities, Nature and Music

Outline n n n Italo Calvino & The Invisible Cities Your Views? Patterns of the Invisible Cities Other Kinds of Invisible Cities The Music Garden Conclusion?

Italo Calvino n n One of the world's foremost postmodern authors; Calvino is listed alongside Philip Johnson's AT&T building, Disneyland, Monthey Python, Max Headroom, and Donald Bartheleme as the most prominent 'icons' of postmodernism (Pilz)

Structure of Invisible Cities

Different Kinds ¡ ¡ ¡ Cities and memory. Cities and desire. Cities and signs. Thin cities. Trading cities Cities and eyes. Cities and names. Cities and the dead Cities and the sky. Continuous cities. Hidden cities.

Outline of our Reading n Marco Polo’s talk to Kubla Khan 1. a. b. The invisible will not perish; Description of cities with gestures and language; the emperor’s responses 2. a. b. The past is always ahead of us; elsewhere is a negative mirror From gestures to words and back to gesture; the use of silence 3. a. Cities are made of desires and fears.

Outline of our Reading Your views? 1. Cities and memory. 1. –Diomira – past happiness; Cities and memory. 2. – Isidora – past desire; Cities and memory. 3. – Zaira – past connections; Cities and memory. 4. – Zora – described point by point, unmoved till it disappears; 2. Cities and memory. 5. –Maurilla – a postcard city 1. Cities and desire. 1. –Dorothea – 2 ways of describing a city Cities and desire. 2. – Anastasia –describing the city vs. full experience Cities and desire. 3. – Despina -- 2 perception of a city 2. Cities and desire. 4. –Fedora -- with a mental city which turns into a museum; 1, Cities and signs. 1. – Tamara – arbitrary signs Cities and signs. 2. – Zirma – The city is redundant, so is our memory, because they are repetitive. 2 Cities and signs. 3. –Zoe – a city which is a mixture of functions. 1. Thin cities. 1. – Isaura – a city of wells two religions; (東石鄉; Venice? ) 2. Thin cities. 2. –Zenobia – a city of platforms, balcony and ladders; not happy or unhappy, but one generating desires. 2. Trading cities. 1. – Euphemia – where merchants meet; to buy and sell, but also to tell stories.

Patterns of the Invisible Cities 1. City, memory and the past ¡ ¡ ¡ 2. The Concept City vs. the Lived City – ¡ ¡ 3. Desires are memories. Cities contain our desires. Polo p. 28 – we know more about our past as we move ahead. A city’s past – pp. 10 -11 Dorothea: p. 9; Also city vs. desert Anastasia: p. 12 describing a city and desiring in it; City and Desires – ¡ Two perspectives. P. 17 – Cities are formed by their opposites and desires.

Patterns of the Invisible Cities 4. Human constructions n n 5. Religion Buildings – Isidora p. 8; Human Languages n n Signs – arbitrary (Are there any which are not signs? ) Gestures and Signs

Invisible Cities II: Distant Cities n n Diomira p. 1: City and Memory: Byzantium underneath Istanbul Isidora City and Arts: Carpentry at 古川 (a town in a mountain) Anastasia p. 12 City and Desire/Arts: Kite Festival at Lahore City and Signs/Postcards

Kite Festival at Lahore n n Basant, the festival that marks the start of spring; Kite with “string coated by hand in a doughy substance which is impregnated with pulverised glass” (http: //news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/wor ld/south_asia/2750193. stm )

The Music Garden n n What do you think? General Design Efforts – Arts, Business and Politics Music, Nature and Urban Space

Bach & Garden Plan Suite#1 I – Prelude II – Allemande III -Courante, IV – Sarabande, V - Menuet I , VI - Gigue Bk 5

Toronto Music Garden n From Boston’s City Hall Plaza to Toronto’s Harbor Front

Prelude: An undulating river scape with curves and bends. n Response to the environment Bk 3

Allemande: A forest grove of wandering trails. n Original plan: Bk 7; adjusted in the new plan Bk 14

Courante: A swirling path through a wildflower meadow. n Bk 11

Sarabande: A conifer grove in the shape of an arc n

Sarabande: a poet's corner n the garden's centerpiece is a huge stone that acts as a stage for readings, and holds a small pool with water that reflects the sky. Bk 13

Menuette: A formal flower parterre. n Gigue: Giant grass steps that dance you down to the outside world. Bk 8; 12

Efforts – Arts, Business and Politics n

Efforts – Arts, Business and Politics n n Different concerns of the Boston government: noise, money (to privatize the space to increase more economic interest), tourism, security To gain financial support: to ‘massage’ the corporate power. Bks 10; 6

Music, Nature and Urban Space n Ma’s intention: to create a space for music without walls. what about traffic? (e. g. Bk 16)

Music, Nature and Urban Space n n Julie Messervy: To shape nature in simple forms (Bk 2) The film’s: Bk 9, 15

Minuette: formal dance n Hand-crafted with ornamental steel, a circular pavilion is designed to shelter small musical ensembles or dance groups.

Music and Nature: The Gigue n or "jog" is an English dance, whose jaunty, rollicking music is interpreted here as a series of giant grass steps that offer views onto the harbor.

Conclusion? n n A city can be variously defined, imagined, desired for, and connected to the past. Concept City does not just belong to the city planners. We also have our concepts in the use of signs, memories and through our desires and efforts in construction.

Reference n n n Pilz, Kerstin. ”Reconceptualising thought and space: labyrinths and cities in Calvino's fictions. ” Italica, Summer 2003 v 80 i 2 p 229(15) http: //www. juliemoirmesservy. com/pro. htm Toronto Music Garden Photo Gallery--Inspired by Bach: Yo Yo Ma http: //www. nakayoshi. org/musicgarden/ n Loraine Hunter http: //www. garden- time. com/magazine/03 september/article_gotw. php