Response part 2: Zumthor, the hypocrite (and maybe a communist)

Zumthor sound's like a romantic and his tone is reinforced by his background as a cabinet maker, a craftsman with an affinity for the joinery of materials (unmatched according to himself one might conclude from reading). It was enjoyable to hear him talk about the importance of materials and how they come together in a building. Its certainly an area I would like to know more about as everyone knows I'm lacking severely in the reality department there. A building at peace with itself has no other message then what it is, its genuine truth, a synergy of materiality and human experience...

He speaks of architecture through human memories and perception via the senses. He also goes to great lengths to compare his favorite music and poetry to what his architecture represents through similes and metaphors. For all this talk about "signs and information", these artistic vehicles, this architectural rhetoric, it seems kind of odd he would criticize it and those who use this "medium" to talk about their own work considering thats about all he has been successful at in his book. Contradictory? Just a bit. Are not memories and the senses also "mediums" for experiencing architecture? Contradictions, Mr. Zumthor, indeed exist

What of man's monuments? Are they clouded in this useless information and signage as well? The Statue of Liberty, the Washington monument, the Great Wall of China (not the fast food), the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids, the Berlin Wall? Architecture involves the human experience but it is by no means limited to that which the human body can experience in the physical presence of such great wonders. My god, the Twin Towers!!! The substance of their architecture, the details and human experience as put by Mr. Zumthor, was far outweighed by what it represented to the citizens of the United States and to the Western World. I find it rather ironic that I watched those monumental titans crumble to the ground live on television, a medium that was perhaps throwing up "smoke and mirrors."

I watched information in the form of a plane crash into information in the form of a building. I was a witness to information in the form of murder, pain, confusion, anger, and a million other things all happening at once. I felt them, we all felt them. That one singular experience evoked more in me then any architecture I've ever physically experienced in my entire life. Was that not all real?

(our most recent president to exit the oval office might suggest that Mr. Zumthor's statements put into question his patriotism to this country)

real:
a) being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory
b) being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something
c) substantial: having substance or capable of being treated as fact; not imaginary
d) veridical (true, pertaining to experience, perception, or interpretation that accurately represents reality as opposed to unsubstantiated, illusory, or delusory

vehicle:
a) medium for the expression or achievement of something
b) specific channel or publication displaying the advertising message to a target audience
c) a conveyance that transports people or objects
d) medium for expression of talent or views

medium:
a) means or instrumentality for storing or communicating information
b) surrounding environment
c) an intervening substance through which signals can travel as a means for communication
d) (biology) a substance in which specimens are preserved or displayed

perceive:
a) to become aware of through the senses
b) become conscious of
c) In psychology, philosophy, and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information

awareness:
a) having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization or perception
b) In biological psychology, awareness comprises a human's or an animal's perception and cognitive reaction to a condition or event. Awareness does not necessarily imply understanding, just an ability to be conscious of, feel or perceive
c) state or level of consciousness where sense data can be confirmed by an observer