Run a Google search on “top skylines of the world” and you’ll be hard-pressed to find St. Louis anywhere on the list. Although St. Louis’ skyline isn’t much to brag about, one aspect we have that sets us apart from most other concrete jungles of America is the Saint Louis Gateway Arch, a 630 ft. tall steel structure built in the 1960s, and designed by Finnish-American architect, Eero Saarinen.
I had the opportunity to attend the opening lecture for a two-month long exhibition at Washington University in St. Louis in honor of Eero Saarinen and the Arch.
Having recently quit the art school, I felt as if it was still vital for me to keep in touch with the art world, even if it didn’t necessarily mean making art of my own anymore, so I decided going to the symposium would be a great chance for me to do so.
Steinberg Auditorium, where the lecture was held, took on a whole new life to me that late afternoon when I shuffled in, cumbersome and cold with my huge backpack and puffy jacket. The room was filled with this buzz and energy that I’ve never seen before, too, and I couldn’t help but also feel excited. By the time the lecture started, the auditorium was so jam packed with people that every seat was filled and people had to stand at the back in front of the door.
Soon after, architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien from the firm Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects based in New York City came onto stage, introducing their lecture, “What Lasts.” In their talk, they sought to challenge viewers to consider what lasts, especially in this time of economic insecurity and turmoil—to think about what is important to them, what they want to leave behind. They described the powerful feeling an architect has when they see their first work being constructed; it’s a memory that remains with you for a long time. They explained that one of the reasons that they chose to be architects is so that they could make work that “has consequence”, to make things that can last.
Later, they went on to show the audience many of the projects that they took on, including their own apartment. They designed their own apartment building in New York City out of scratch, from the exterior gilded in bronze to the circular interior with spiral stairs in the center of the room with ivory railings. It was amazing to me that they actually designed the very home that they lived in. That is doing work that has consequence, and it was very inspiring for me to see that.
In any of their projects, they were always careful not to disturb the environment on which they built, and in this regard, they reminded me a lot of the Ancient Greeks, building on the Acropolis and utilizing the natural landscape of the mountain to complement the structure of great buildings such as the Parthenon.
When they were finished with the presentation, the Opening Lecture to a weekend dedicated to Eero Saarinen was over, but it really left an impression on me. It made me think about what lasts. What are the things that stay on this earth after we are gone? I was reminded of a quote I love: “Create, or die quietly”. If we were to leave this world, what would we leave behind? Great people like Tod Williams and Billie Tsien obviously have so much to show for their lives, so many great works and buildings that will, I hope, still stand long after they’re gone. They inspired me to want to create, and despite just having left the art school (or maybe it’s because of this that I felt the urge all the more), I really felt the need to make art again. And today, I think I will.