Trajan, XIII
Roman Emperor, birthday 18 September 53
Dale Chihuly, American
glass sculptor, birthday 20 September 1941
Burj Khalifa,
Dubai, U.A.E., anniversary beginning of construction 21 September 2004
On the outskirts of Seville in Andalusia, ancient Hispania,
the infamous Roman Emperor Trajan was born to Roman elite parents. Not only was he responsible for orchestrating
massive gladiatorial festivals in which over 11,000 prisoners & thousands
of animals were publically murdered, he instituted popular welfare programs and
implemented multiple building campaigns all designed to keep the citizenry
happy and entertained. 
His chief
architect of his many triumphal arches throughout the empire and “Trajan’s bridge”
across the Danube was Apollodorus of Damascus.
Apollodorus is also often credited for building the Pantheon, although there has never been any reliable documentation of that. One of Trajan’s most notable projects
completed during his reign in Rome was his forum & market complex. It was once thought to be the world’s first
shopping mall but recent theories suggest it was an administrative office
complex. On the more unusual site, he
broke from the arch tradition to create a new type of monument: Trajan’s Column
which commemorates one of his many military successes. He was anything but modest, but then again,
was there ever a Roman emperor who was? 
With the 50th anniversary of the founding of the
Art Glass Movement being celebrated this year by multitudes of retrospective
and exhibits it is all too fitting that the work of Dale Chihuly be
featured. As one of the brave pioneers
into this medium that was once restricted to large-scale industrial production,
he has been able to produce pieces that are extraordinarily delicate, enticing,
overwhelming by sheer magnitude. His
studio works much as one from the Renaissance, where he as the master oversees a
core of apprentices. To build the
communal spirit there is one enormous long natural wood table that all are
encouraged to congregate at not just for meals but for collaboration. 
The majority of his work is evocative of sea
creatures, collections of fire tongues and unearthly flora. As much as the name Chihuly is salivated over
by designers & clients alike, the time may have come that he has reached
the pinnacle; dangerously teetering on the verge of becoming a one-trick-pony
as Britto and Gehry. This is a difficult
wire to tread as artists strive to satisfy the desires of an adoring public
while maintaining a forward-thinking creative flow. None the less, I still would jump at the
chance to own a piece and will make room in my schedule to see any exhibition
in the neighborhood. 
Ahhh, the Burj! This
still amazes and astounds me. This
vertical city was six years in the planning and will sit atop the list as the
tallest structure built by man for many, many years. Thanks to the design team from Skidmore,
Owings & Merril (SOM) evoking images of Frank Lloyd Wright’s mile high
tower, that pinnacle has come closer than ever before and trumps any attempt
since. The Burj Khalifa stands at 2,717
feet high, over 1000 feet taller than the next contender. Equally as iconic as this new tower is the
architectural firm who designed it. SOM
has designed 10% of the world’s top 100.
This may seem like a small number until you analyze the list a bit
closer: out of 100, that is 10 completed and separate buildings. The next closest in number would be Cesar
Pelli & Associates with four but it may be unfair that the Petronas Towers
were each counted separately. If that’s
the case then Cesar is tied with Tange & Associates (see 3 September entry)
but none of Tange’s buildings reach the 1000 foot mark. For SOM, all but one is over a thousand. After the building boom than gave us the
Chrysler Building lay dormant, SOM reinvigorated the race for the sky with the
first project to attempt that mark after the Empire State Building with the
John Hancock Center in Chicago in 1969 and established themselves on the global
market as the “go-to” firm for massive buildings.
So it may be a little unfair that they have out-shined everyone else since they’ve been at it longer than anyone.
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