Peter Eisenman
is an architect and educator. he was born in 1932 in newark, new jersey, usa.
he received a bachelor of architecture degree from cornell university in 1955,
a master of architecture degree from columbia university, m.a. and ph.d.
degrees from the university of cambridge, and an honorary doctor of fine arts
degree from the university of illinois, chicago.
in 1967, eisenman founded new york's institute for architecture and urban studies.
eisenman has authored several books, including 'house X' (rizzoli), 'fin díou t hous'
(the architectural association), 'moving arrows, eros and other errors
(the architectural association), and 'house of cards' (oxford university press),
co-author with jacques derrida of 'chora l works' (monacelli press).
he has published numerous essays and articles on his architectural
theories in international magazines and journals.
he was founding director of the institute and editor
of 'oppositions', and has made
perhaps more than any other architect practicing today, a career out of devising and
employing a dialect of oppositions in architecture. with
references to rhetorical strategies,
societal alienation, and existing architectural forms, eisenman's theoretical work derives
much from friedrich nietzsche, noam chomsky, and jacques derrida.
peter eisenman was the leader of a loosely knit group of new york architects,
called 'the new york five' (with john hejduk, michael graves, charles gwathmey,
and richard meier) who made an effort to introduce a theory and artistry of architecture
as rigorous as that of the european avant-garde.
he has held teaching positions at cambridge, princeton, harvard, yale,
and ohio state universities. he is currently the irwin s. chanin distinguished professor
of architecture at the cooper union in new york city and a visiting professor
at princeton university.
in 1980, after many years of teaching, writing and producing respected theoretical work,
he established his professional practice in new york, eisenman architects,
to focus exclusively on building. assisted by associate principals richard rosson
and tracy aronoff, eisenman has designed a wide range of projects,
including large-scale housing and urban design schemes, innovative facilities
for educational institutions, and a series of inventive private houses.
eisenman's wexner center for the visual arts and fine arts library at ohio state university,
completed in 1989, received a 1993 national honor award from
the american institute of architects. his social housing at checkpoint
charlie in berlin was honored by the german government,
which featured the project on a postage stamp commemorating the 750th anniversary
of the city of berlin. at present, eisenman is designing a museum for the staten island
institute of arts and sciences at the st. george ferry terminal in new york city;
a mixed-use complex in mesa,
arizona, including a football stadium for the arizona cardinals, a convention center,
and two hotels; the holocaust memorial and interpretative center in berlin.
it is a project of enormous complexity in terms of its content, its mission, its design details
and the politics that accompany it. after all, it is germany's official acknowledgement of guilt.
his work has been the subject of two monographs:
'eisenman architects' (images press) and 'peter eisenman' (electa).
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peter eisenman (chard's favourite architect)
© designboom
wexner center for the arts
ohio state university, 1983-1989 |
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we met peter eisenman in milan on april 8, 2002
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what is the best moment of the day?
I think when I wake up.
I get up very early and I have a lot of energy
and I get a chance to read quietly and be by myself and think
and so to me its the best time.
what kind of music do you listen to at the moment?
I listen to various things.
here in the hotel we're listening to early records of caruso,
we were talking today about listening to wagner,
I go to the opera - so we see rossini,bellini, mozart,
but my favorite is wagner, the ring and all of the others.
what books do you have on your bedside table?
I have a variety of books on my bedside table.
I read fiction at the moment.
I read mystery writers.
at princeton I'm reading jacque derrida.
I read many diffferent kinds of things.
where do you get news from?
I get news from the internet (cnn, the new york times).
I also get news from the daily news and gossip from my friends.
do you notice how women dress?
do you have any preferences?
I notice women (laughs).
I went shopping with my wife today, we went to ferragamo, gucci and armani.
I suppose I notice...
I don't go to parties where people are dressed up,
I go to parties where people are dressed like people.
we don't walk around in designer clothes, so I suppose I would say
that I don't look at women for the way they're dressed.
what kind of clothes do you avoid wearing?
anything fashionable.
do you have any pets?
we have 2 cats.
we have 2 children and the pets belong to them.
my children have always had cats.
I tolerate the pets.
where do you work on your designs and projects?
I have a studio, my office is like an atelier, and I have a desk in there.
I don't have my own office, I sit in the middle of my studio
- we have 20 or 30 people - and I am able to listen to what's going on.
I have no private telephone...
it's where I do all my work, my drawing, my thinking,
I work with my people, make models, I say I want this, let us do this,
I look at their computers, I think things and I write things,
I'm with my workers all the time.
who would you like to design something for?
I suppose would like to build a skyscraper.
we have a project in Berlin for a 200 meter tall skyscraper.
we're working on a stadium in the united states
and this is something I would like to build because I'm interested in soccer,
I go to many matches,
...but I'd like to build a tall building.
when you were a child what did you want to be?
did you always want to become an architect ?
no never. I didn't know what an architect was,
I didn't know there was such a thing as an architect till I went to college.
I never wanted to be anything because I didn't think anything, know anything.
I was a nerd. I was nothing, nulla, niente.
do you discuss your work with architects and designers?
yes, all the time,
like leon krier today we had lunch, or raphael moneo, philip johnson.
I talk to young architects, I'm always talking with people.
jeff kipnis, mark whitley, robert stern...
many many people I talk to and exchange ideas with.
describe your style like a good friend of yours would describe it.
one can never know at the same time what is the condition of society,
its so-called 'zeitgeist', and how architecture should respond to it.
one has always had to go outside of architecture.
I have had to do so in order to address the question of 'what should I do?'
and I would argue that philosophy is one of the most readily available.
let's put it this way, in any time architecture has 2 roles.
it either reflects society, or in a sense is a precursor
- not revolutionary, not radical, in between reflection and radicality -
that is something I would call a precursor.
thinking about something that might disturb something in the present.
I think that my work is more like disturbance, rather than change, a radical change.
its certainly not reflection.
I would say disturbance, precursor, premonition.
[ see the quicktime clip, 564 kb ]
which of your projects has given you the most satisfaction?
the project that will be most interesting for most people of my work.
even though its very different from most of my projects is the
holocaust memorial in berlin.
this is a controversial subject and a controversial project,
and I think that when it will be built, it will be...
I don't know what it will be like,
but its going to be very interesting to have it built.
of the projects I've built,I think probably the wexner center
is one which gives me a lot of good feeling and still remains a very didactic work.
but I think in one's lifetime, maybe one can do 2 or 3 canonical projects
that are precursors of something else.
I think the wexner project was one,
and I think that the holocaust project could be another.
and of course anything that is successful in terms of being a precursor.
is there any architect or designer from past you appreciate a lot?
oh, I appreciate many architects.
from the past, I love palladio, I'm doing a book on him,
and piranesi, I like le corbusier, terragni, my book on terragni is finally coming out.
I have many architects.
and those still active? are there any particular ones you appreciate?
I really respect leon krier, although I disagree with him a lot,
we are very good friends,
also moneo...
any advice for the young?
unless you are really committed to being an architect
in the true sense of the word,
its a terrible business and I wouldn't recommend it for anybody,
unless you need to do it for some personal reason,
I would say go into business, go into law, medicine, but don't be an architect.
[ see the quicktime clip, 464 kb ]
what are you afraid of regarding the future?
death. I'm scared to death, not to be forever.
I don't worry about money, work, anything else, but I can't come to terms
with the idea of going to sleep one night and not waking up.
It's the only thing I worry about, and I have to not think about it,
because I would go crazy.
being dead is an awful thought.
that's the only thing, everything else is fantastic.
life is unbelieveable, even things that go wrong, I don't worry about anything
because I know that I'll get to my coffin, I'll be able to get in, they'll put a lid on it,
and I know I'll get there and every morning I get up
and I say I have my whole life in front of me and it's true,
and that gives me great joy and great hope and happiness.
that's what sustains me.
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staten island institute of arts and sciences,
new york, 1997 - work in progress.
emory university center for the arts,
atlanta, georgia, 1991
berlin's holocaust memorial
by richard serra and peter eisenman
the memorial consists of 2700 concrete stelae on a large
site in the very center of berlin, right near the ministries and
parliament (reichstag). if all goes on schedule it will be dedicated in
january 2004
berlin's holocaust memorial
berlin's holocaust memorial
'a void' instalation, courtyard palazzo reale
piazza duomo, milan, 2002
 cardinal stadium,
features a retractable roof, retractable side and the field moves in and out of the structure.
arkansas razorbacks football stadium expansion
fayetteville,arizona, under construction
cardinal stadium,
this view shows the retractable field.
arkansas razorbacks football stadium expansion
fayetteville,arizona, under construction
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