Leaving WordPress behind. I just don’t have enough time or desire keep a full blog up to date. Tumblr is more casual with shorter posts. So I’m now at http://stephenhoang.tumblr.com

The Watchmen was only the second graphic novel that I ever read. It was complex but accessible, visually engaging and consistent, and it featured fully developed characters. Though I never liked how the story ended, I always thought that it was worthy of all the praise it has received.

Just last Friday I saw the film adaptation. When I first heard about this project, I was apprehensive. Not because I believed that The Watchmen was not film-able, I’m not that ardent a fan. Rather, I doubted the director, Zach Snyder. His previous film, 300, was flashy and nothing more. The Watchmen had to be the opposite. It’s super heroes weren’t necessarily heroic in the classic sense. And there was substance behind the costumes, something that Frank Miller’s works have never possessed, and probably will never possess. So I approached the film with low expectations.

My final assessment? I think that the film works as an adaptation, but not necessarily as a film. What does this mean? The film is almost exactly the same as the graphic novel. The dialog matches the text bubbles, the cinematography matches the drawings in the book, and nearly every scene is included with the exact same pacing and order. Of course, some things had to be left out – the parallel pirate story and the novel excerpts especially – but on the whole, the movie is simply a moving version of the graphic novel.

While this probably will satisfy most fans, this makes for a somewhat heavy film. The plodding nature of the graphic novel works in that medium, but it doesn’t work so much on film. Movies have the ability to be visceral in a way print cannot be. Furthermore, when images that were originally still start moving, the nature of a scene changes. Violence is a good example. A single image of animated gore is tolerable, but an entire scene of it with real actors as opposed to hand drawings magnifies the gore and makes it feel suddenly inappropriate for the story. So much of the story isn’t violent, but when these moments appeared on screen, they distracted rather than enhanced the reason for their inclusion.

I think that it is clear that Zach Snyder didn’t know what to do with this movie. He was afraid of ruining the “greatest graphic novel of all time,” but he knew that he had to satisfy the general audience. In the end, fan pressure kept this film from becoming a potentially great movie. Because I had read the graphic novel before hand, and had liked it, I left the theater entertained and somewhat satisfied. But my sister, a week later, hated the movie. So what does this say? Great adaptation, not so great film.

I’ve been bad about keeping this blog updated, so here I am completing a draft that’s been waiting to be finished for weeks.

Over the winter break, right after New Years, I visited the Menil Collection for the first time. I first learned about this building during a mid review last spring. I had designed a series of fins for the roof of my art gallery and had done so rather clumsily. One of my reviewers suggested that I look at how Renzo Piano had designed the fins in the Menil. I never actually got around to looking at the building, as other concerns took precedence, but I told myself that the next time I was in Houston I would visit.

Well, I kind of forgot during the summer, but in a way this was good since I learned a lot more about Renzo Piano and how he works over the next semester. When I finally visited with my cousin, I was surprised by how hidden it was. A rather modest parking lot was connected by a short path to the main entrance. It really didn’t feel like I was about to enter a rather prominent museum both architecturally and artistically.

The entrance to the Menil complex from the parking lot.

When I finally saw the building, I felt mixed. For one, it quietly sat within the residential neighborhood that surrounds the building. Yes, it was far larger than anything nearby, but it didn’t seem to impose itself in the way other large building do. I also liked that it not only complemented but enhanced the quaint character of the neighborhood. But, at the same time, it was ungracefully boxy and disappointingly introverted. By respecting its context, it turned inwards to avoid disturbing anything outside.

The main entrance to the Menil.

Inside, the building was more impressive. Most of the galleries were naturally lit using Renzo Piano’s now famous roof louvers. By themselves, the louvers were extremely elegant and sensuous. Their curved form gave them a sense of movement and lightness that really helped to make the galleries feel larger than they actually were. However, since I went on an overcast day late in the afternoon, I could not witness the full power of the louvers to diffuse the sun. Still, I could see how sunlight bounced between the louvers, though at a more subtle level.

The louvers covering the outdoor porch.

Furthermore, the indoor atriums were beautiful. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures inside, so I only have photographs of the exterior.

Afterwards, my cousin and I decided to explore the other museums in the area. First we visited the Rothko Chapel, a dark meditative space that really required us to sit and adjust to the light and to really look hard at the art. At first we just saw a series of black paintings. But after about ten minutes, colors started to pop out at us. It was kind of amazing.

Then we visited the Byzantine Fresco Chapel. Architecturally, this was my favorite building. In a way, it was a glass chapel housed inside a blocky, textured building. The use of light and materials surprised me. I felt like I had entered another world.

We also visited the Cy Twombly gallery, a somewhat bland attempt to recreate the lighting of the Menil but also the home of impressively large artworks. In terms of the art itself, this was the best museum.

Finally, we ended on the Dan Flavin Installation at Richmond Hall, a strangely conventionally commercial building. What was great about the installation, a series of colored fluorescent lights, was that my cousin and I were the only visitors there in a humongous room. Seeing the installation alone made it much more fun.

The Dan Flavin Installation with my cousin.

It’s winter break, meaning I have the free time to catch up with some movies I’ve been wanting to see. What I thought of each movie in the order that I saw them.

Man on Wire

Heavily praised documentary, perhaps overly so. It’s about a French high wire artist named Philippe Petit who walked, without safety nets, between the twin towers. The documentary recalls other impressive walks leading up to the WTC walk and the planning and implementation of the penultimate walk. It didn’t quite live up to all the hype, but was interesting nonetheless. Footage of Petit performing, both in film and in photographs, is mind blowing. A solid straightforward documentary of an incredible feat.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Early on, I remember hearing that this was the odds on favorite to win the Best Picture Oscar. After seeing it, I really hope it doesn’t win. For one, Slumdog Millionaire and Wall-E are far superior. However, it’s not a bad movie by any means, it’s just not a particularly memorable one. Heavy handed symbolism, irrelevant side stories, so-so acting, unnecessary story within a story structure, and an EXTREMELY slow start make this a huge disappointment. Still, the ending was okay, though it had potential to be so much more. With such a unique premise, I expected something less dull.

Tropic Thunder

The trailer was really funny. But the movie was just okay. Robert Downy Jr. was brilliant, as always, and everybody else acted well enough, but the movie was just really uneven. And they could have done more with Steve Coogan. My sister may have ruined the movie somewhat for me by telling me when the funny parts were coming so that I wasn’t really surprised by anything, but I think it was more than this. And less Ben Stiller would have been good.

Frost/Nixon

This movie is all about the acting. And boy is it good. Frank Langella as Nixon is mesmerizing, and Michael Sheen, a truly underrated actor, is equally good. Because it’s based on a play, this film has a lot of talking, which may be off putting to some people. But I found all the dialog interesting, and the final debate between Richard Nixon and David Frost was fascinating, exposing just who these people were.

Punch Drunk Love

This movie bored me to tears. It’s neurotic for the sake of being neurotic, and it features some of the most abrasive and unnatural writing I have ever come across. On top of this, most of the supporting cast is stiff and awkward. Adam Sandler, in what I believe was his first major dramatic role, is actually likable and appropriately understated, and he may be the one saving grace in this movie. Unfortunately, he wasn’t good enough, and I turned off my DVD player halfway through the movie. I just didn’t care anymore.

Still on my list of movies to see: Revolutionary Road, Let the Right One In, Waltz for Bashir, and Milk.

Do you remember when Who Want’s to be a Millionaire was a national sensation? When it was on four times a week, when “Is that your final answer?” became a catch-phrase and Regis started a new fashion trend… of colored dress shirts? I certainly do. I remember watching the show after Thanksgiving dinner with my entire extended family, intrigued by the questions, the contestants, and yes, even Regis. But once that IRS guy easily won the first million dollars, followed by eight other millionaires, the show stopped being interesting, and started being a poor imitation of a more difficult British original. Soon, we were all sick of the show, and sick of Regis.

Thus, it amused me when I heard that Slumdog Millionaire centered around the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I thought that it would be played more for laughs, or used as a plot device. But, after watching the movie, I was reminded about just how suspenseful the game show could be. There were really two climaxes to the movie, and they both happened at the same time, centered on the same thing, the last question.

As Slumdog Millionaire has been the only Oscar contender I’ve seen this year (The exception, of course, was The Dark Knight, but I thought that that film was an extraordinary film that went an hour too long and became an ordinary film.), I can’t really say if it deserves the best picture prize. But I would like to see it win, simply because it is a really good movie that actually leaves you feeling good about life. I loved the characters, the cinematography, and the music (The soundtrack is full of M.I.A.). It’s a shame that most people will not give this movie a chance, because it really has all the ingredients of a classic Hollywood blockbuster. Memorable characters, epic story, a bit of sentimentality, and a feel good ending. Plus, there is a Bollywood dance number during the credits. Now how can anyone not like that?

Austin American Statesman: Austin chooses architect for new central library.

I remember when I used to go to the Faulk Central Library everyday after I got out of middle school. I would go to the southwest corner of the second floor and work on my homework for an hour or two until my dad picked me up. For about a year and a half, this was a daily routine. In that time, I got to know the library really well. I knew how the books were organized, from the oversized art books on the third floor to the graphic novels on the first. I knew all the employees and security guards. I even taught myself how to use the micro film for viewing archived newspapers. And, in that time, I grew to hate the Faulk Central Library. It smelled bad, it was poorly lit, and it was always filled with homeless people.

So, when I got to vote for a new central library a year or two ago, I enthusiastically voted for it. The question, now, is what the new library will be. Rem Koolhaas practically reinvented the public library with his design for Seattle, a bustling, energetic cultural hub that housed food, shopping, and civic activities while still providing both quiet, intimate spaces and spectacularly open spaces for reading. It has become the pinnacle of library architecture.

Rem Koolhaas's Seattle Public Library

For Austin, it makes sense to draw from Seattle. The two cities are similar in multiple ways: equivalent size, comparable art and music scenes, large high tech work forces, environmentally progressive ambitions. Of course, Seattle does possess a more international presence, standing as a major American city, while Austin still comfortably embraces its status as a more minor American city. So, it was clear that Austin would not get a world renown architect for its library. (Plus, the bad experience that the University of Texas at Austin put Herzog & de Meuron, of Bird’s Nest fame, through surely didn’t help.)

So, as stated in the article above, Austin has finally selected an architect for its central library. To the truthful, the only firm of the three that were up for the commission that I knew was Lake|Flato, the winning firm. There is controversy, though, as Lake|Flato was the lowest rated firm of the three. It makes you wonder, why would the Austin City Council choose the firm that city staffers had rated lowest among the candidates?

Nevertheless, I’ve liked what I’ve seen from Lake|Flato. In the end, I just want a good library, because, quite frankly, Faulk Central Library is horrible.

I was listening to the most recent All Songs Considered podcast earlier today about The Beatles White Album, and it got me feeling all nostalgic. The host was talking about how, because of the digital age, some of the magic of the album has been lost. When it was originally released, the White Album was split into four sides on two vinyl records. Because of the limitations of vinyl, the album was designed to be listened to in four parts. Thus, when side one ended with “Happiness is a Warm Gun,” it was supposed to lead into silence. There was a definite end to it.

But, with the CD, the album was split into two discs, meaning “Happiness is a Warm Gun” lead directly into “Martha My Dear,” an entirely different feel. And then, now with mp3s, the whole album can be listened to without pause, which of course is how I’m listening to it right now. When the host started talking about how different it was to have to physically flip a record over and start a new side, I realized how right he was. Vinyls force you to really experience the music.

I can’t say that I’ve had a lot of exposure to vinyl. My dad only owned a few records that I would want to listen to. Luckily, however, he did happen to own one Beatles and one Bob Dylan record, and he kept his entire record player assembly intact, speakers, amplifier and all. I remember when my sister and I discovered all the records hidden behind our family photo albums in a little accessed cabinet. When we put the Beatles record on, after figuring out how a record player worked, we were kind of blown away by the sound quality. It was just so much fuller than our CDs and mp3s. 

Since then, we’ve slowly built up our record collection, adding some Simon and Garfunkel, some Frank Sinatra, and others. But we’ve only used our records sparingly, and thus were only willing to buy bargain priced records. Right now, actually, our needle is spent, and its been that way for a while. But, now that I’ve heard that bands are beginning to release vinyl versions of their albums with download codes for free mp3 files, I’m considering a serious record collection.

It really is the best of both worlds. Mp3s, for all their convenience, bother me for their lack of anything physical. Vinyls, meanwhile, are the best physical representation of music. Cassettes and CDs really can’t compete. But, vinyls are fragile and are the opposite of portable. But if I can get both for a single price, I can still use my iPod and retain the physical, more intimate experience of vinyl.

Lately, everyone has been referencing the Eiffel Tower whenever a new project is criticized. From Calatrava to the new Herzog & de Meuron project, supporters claim that over time these structures will be appreciated for the brilliance that they actually are, just like the Eiffel Tower. I say, not true.

When first built for the World’s Fair, people hated the Eiffel Tower. Somehow, though, the building survived demolition and is now one of the most recognizable in the world. Yes, people thought that the Eiffel Tower was ugly, but most of that stemmed from a desire to preserve the current architecture of Paris. The Eiffel Tower was tall when everything else was short, and it was made of iron when everything else was made of masonry.

Some of these new projects, however, are just plain bad. Take the just opened Calatrava bridge in Jerusalem. It’s like all of Calatrava’s other bridges, but instead of spanning some river, it’s located in the middle of the city, bridging a busy street. Now by itself, it’s fine. But in the middle of Jerusalem, it’s horribly out of place. There’s no room for it to breath, as all of the surrounding structures crowd the bridge. It also feels completely unnecessary for the task required, bridging a simple street. It’s obvious, then, that Calatrava designed not based on the project’s unique conditions, but rather on extending his own trademark. Ego first, it would seem.

From ArcSpace: Calatrava's bridge. It thinks it's so important.

Then there’s the new tower Herzog & de Meuron just announced for the La Défence district of Paris. It’s basically a giant steel and glass pyramid. Again, this project, named the Triangle Project, has its detractors, and for good reason. Why a pyramid? It’s way too commanding, way to authoritative a form. In fact, it reminds me of the pyramids in George Orwell’s 1984. In the book, the government used the pyramid to assert their dominance over the population. And with the criticism comes the defense: “Look at the Eiffel Tower and how we used to hate it so much. Now we love it, and we’ll learn to love this pyramid too.” Only La Défence is not reacting to an attempt to preserve current architectural styles. It’s a district known for architectural innovation, both good and bad. If even this ruffles La Défence, maybe it really is that bad.

From Building.co.uk: Herzog & de Meuron's pyramid. If they hated I.M. Pei, wait until this monstrosity is built.

Really, the Eiffel Tower should not be used to excuse bad, self centered design. Too many buildings are built today that are obviously extensions of their architects’ egos and disrespect their clients, neighbors, and purposes. When built, the Eiffel Tower was meant to represent France, as it successfully does today. They say that Calatrava’s bridge will be a spectacular new entrance to Jerusalem, but all I see is Calatrava, and nothing of Jerusalem. The same goes for the Triangle Project. Sure it’s a different form, but why use it?

Right now, I’m working on a yoga studio near Zilker Park. We’ve been given a truly amazing site. We’re right next to Town Lake, or now Lady Bird Lake, in a heavily forested site that is surprisingly secluded considering its proximity to downtown.

While developing my yoga space, the climax of the entire building, I came across Smiljan Radic’s Casa CR. I was originally looking at one of his other works, Punta Pita, but Casa CR caught my eye. In this project, Radic wrapped the entire second floor in canvas. It creates this amazing lighting effect, while also keeping the space inside simple, perfect for yoga. I’ve since developed my project around a canvas light box that would appear to float among the trees.

The only problem is that I really can’t seem to find much about Smiljan Radic. Everything I find on him is in Spanish, and his project titles seem to have been translated into English differently. Thus, I don’t even know if Casa CR is this project’s real name. Nevertheless, I really like his use of canvas. It’s even inspired me to use it on my own studio window, since the university is too cheap to replace missing window blinds. It blocks out the harshness of the afternoon sun while still allowing light to enter. Now if I could only get this canvas all the way to the top of my window. I’m in need of a ladder.

My precedent study for this semester was on an outdoor gallery in Venice used once a year for a summer art festival. The circumstances around this building were pretty interesting. Situated in the only park in Venice, architect Sverre Fehn had to navigate his building around trees, which the city really wanted to keep. He was also building a gallery that would be representative of all three Nordic countries – Norway, Finland, and Sweden. The Venice Biennale, that art festival that I mentioned earlier, wanted to have individual galleries that represented many of the major countries. Thus, there is a United States Pavilion, a Canadian Pavilion, a Spanish Pavilion, and so on. Most of these pavilions are rather tame, featuring classical columns and what not, but the Nordic Pavilion is a standout.

Fehn wanted to capture the shadowless light conditions from the Nordic countries. To do this in the much harsher Venetian sun, he had to filter the light through layers of tree canopy, fiberglass gutters, and perpendicular concrete fins. This roof configuration really is the highlight of the building.

The end result really is amazing. Simple, straightforward, elegant. The building does what it needs to do beautifully.