Lecture Series: Oana Stănescu c/o Princeton School of Architecture

Key Takeaways

On what architecture can say about cultural norms and values:

“For communism architecture was a very powerful tool. On the one hand you had this ubiquitous substandard, so-called dormitory neighborhoods, which were really symbols of the mass dislocation of people and the way of breaking up communities. And on the other hand, of course, you had architecture as a symbol of power.”

On cultural moments leading to the reappraisal of cultural systems:

“Almost overnight there’s no structure in place anymore. there’s no system in place anymore. No educational system no nothing. On the one hand it means everything’s up for grabs. Everything can be changed, everything can be questioned. On the other hand, it means though that you have also zero expectations in terms of relying on any systems or preexisting instructions, structures, so on and so forth. Which means basically the only way forward is to assume the responsibility yourself for the kind of world that you want to live in. You have to do the work and there’s nothing there really that you can rely on.”

On the discovery in doing:

“'Stop grinding grinding grinding away at yourself, stop it and just do.’ And while of course he’s referring to an artist and talks about the art world I do think it’s something the architecture world could benefit tremendously. Because otherwise there are ideas that could happen or things that are on the table that could never materialize. Because we always say that if we were to wait for someone to ask us to build the world’s first water-filtering floating pool it would’ve been a really damn long wait. So sometimes we do just have to do things without necessarily knowing where they take us or how to get there.”

On the mysterious power of play:

“We were trying to find the right definition of play. Play is one of the biggest biological mysteries in many ways because it takes up a lot of energy, it is dangerous, and it serves absolutely no purpose. Mammals are all playing and the smarter the more intelligent the mammals the more they play however no one was quite able to find the reason behind it….play is to create, to discover, to proceed in half-playful, half-serious mood, to experiment with one’s culture.

We feel people are hardened by the way of the world today. It’s a really noisy world. We’re more polarized than ever. Can we create a place where we can connect on a more fundamental basis through elements that ties us all together as humans and really translate into a new form of play; while ignoring or forgetting about the typical norms of social life and engaging in a new way with each other?”

On the freedom or permission that architecture suggests:

“I think more often than not I like to think of architecture as a form of infrastructure that really just enables people or invites people to act and engage in a certain way but really they can take it anywhere they want to.One of my favorite examples of design, or of the power of design is the plaza and the center Pompidou. So the simple fact that it's inclined instead of flat invites people to sit down. And really it always blows my mind because it's really the simple gestures, more often than not, that are completely telling. We as humans, we can only do so much with our bodies, we sit, we stand, we lie, maybe we jump, but really that’s about it. It’s not that interesting if you think of it in those terms. So therefore any surface, any piece of design, any element, starts inviting or suggesting certain uses.

My fear, or the way I see it, is that by being over-prescriptive you will risk limiting the things that will happen. And kind of encouraging people to take spaces over, which they will anyway, is a lot more interesting.”

On the the opportunity for The Youngs:

“I also teach and I’m actually looking with a lot of optimism and faith at the new generation. The way I see it, I think we’re similar to what happened in the 60s because of the sexual revolution, civil rights movement, and Vietnam war there was almost a break between generations. I kind of feel we’re nearing somewhere close to that too. I feel the new generation grew up with tools that we are still kind of barely learning, but for them they’re a reflex. if I would do just one thing it’s really to just try to incentivize the young generation to not look for answers at the older generations but just really just starting making that change and taking that world over and really pushing. As a young person you kind of inherit the world with all its good and bad things and then at one point you become responsible for it too as time passes. And I do think we really need a big big wind of change and that can only come from the generation to come. So if I have a single role to play it would be that, to instigate the generations to come.”