first of all, what a wholesome-looking man that moshe safdie is! now that that's out of the way.... my mother had been rambling on about the safdie exhibit at the national gallery, so i finally went to see it. i didn't realize it was so extensive, or perhaps i would have put aside more time for it (had just been through 'it is what it is' and my bag and coat were starting to become quite the nuisance). anyways, everything the man touches is gold, from the expo 67 building complex in montreal (which i must go see) to of course the stunning gallery that housed his exhibition! it was interesting to see just how many of his ideas failed to be realized due to financing struggles, or protests (the student building planned for a university in california). how frustrating. what i like most about his work is how he without fail, incorporates nature and gardens and the surroundings into everything. like how the silhouette of the national gallery echoes the parliament across the river. what moshe did with yad vashem - the holocaust museum in israel - is particularly poignant. apparently the criticisms included 'oh god it's just such a cliché, moving from darkness into the light,' but it's not as if he sat on the mountain and inscribed the phrase in big block letters. i think it was done beautifully.
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