Here is a lavishly illustrated descriptive survey of 48 leading indigenous cultural centers around the world (35 are from Australia and 13 from North America; Japan; Europe; and Asia). The book shows how each is a potentially transformative; politically compelling addition to the field of cultural production; illustrating how the facilities --- all built in the last three decades --- have challenged assumptions about nature; culture; and built form. Using the spatial-temporal practice of place-making as the starting point; the facilities highlighted here are described in terms of collaborations between a number of stake-holders and professional consultants. The book adopts the format of a descriptive survey with separate chapters devoted to individual case studies. A broad introductory chapter which presents the arguments and overview precedes richly illustrated short individual essays on selected projects. Each chapter commences with the details of the project including; location; area; cost and consultants; followed by a project description; and discussion of background; design development and reception of the projects. Each project is approached as an architectural commission; detailing the critical criteria; consultants; and processes. The format is adopted from architectural review essays typically used in awards or journal publications within the profession which are accessible and relevant for both academics and practitioners. Considerable attention is given to the process; and to the evaluation of the project as a cultural response. Each case study has been written with consultation of architects or administrators of the facilities for accuracy. Indigenous Cultural Centers and Museums: An Illustrated International Survey documents a rich legacy of collaboration across the spatial disciplines combining creative art practice; architecture; construction; landscape design and urban design in the production of unique and culturally significant social institutions. This book provides material on hitherto unknown bodies of work of talented architectural practices; working collaboratively with culturally different client groups and developing consultative processes that test models for inter-cultural engagement.
2016-04-08 2016-04-08File Name: B01FYA05NW
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Under the Midnight SunBy Kevin KillianJack Curtis Dubowsky reminds us that even in the days of silent cinema. movie going was not a silent experience. He might well add. in the name of intersectionality that. even when the movies were being censored for gay reference. there has never been a straight cinema. My. can this fellow write. Hersquo;s convincing at every intersection in his argument. and itrsquo;s a doozy. centering on texts in which film and music interact. texts which to establish another constraint. must suggest a queer subtext.Dubowsky can always back up his opinions with savvy research. and a knack for the perfect quote. He goes back to the contemporary notes of film editor Helen von Dongen. who worked with director Robert Flaherty on his famous documentary Louisiana Story (1948). Von Dongen noted the directorrsquo;s strange attraction to his twelve year old male star. ldquo;Though he has a beautiful face. should not be reason to have all sequences same.rdquo; Flaherty is a funny case. isnrsquo;t he? Supposedly straight. a dedicated husband and father. he stuffed his documentaries with good looking young guys. And when he had Virgil Thomson doing the music for Louisiana Story. and applying his own pointedly romantic music for a Bayou boy searching for a lost raccoon. he won the Pulitzer Prize (the only time a film score has been awarded the prestigious music award). but a move that perhaps crystallizes ldquo;straightrdquo; Flaherty as perhaps the gayest of American film-makers.There are amusing typos (ldquo;hoards of gay menrdquo; on page 101 rather than ldquo;hordesrdquo;). but it seems as though scholarly books suffer most from typos nowadays. having no budget to use the copy editors they once employed on staff. That said. the book is certainly worth the $100 it may cost you to get your paws on it. As Susan Stryker hints in her blurb. it is an expansive and multitudinous book with valuable. if dense theory. broken up by gossip and scandal of all sorts. like a Derrida under the influence of Kenneth Anger. (This is my own radical paraphrase of Stryker. of course.)The ldquo;hoards of gay menrdquo; typo comes towards the peroration of Dubowskyrsquo;s set piece. on the ldquo;failurerdquo; of the much beloved Brokeback Mountain (2005). This is perhaps Dubowskyrsquo;s most bristly argument. but it persuaded me. and partly because of his musical analysis of the themes composed by the Brazilian composer Gustavo Santaolalla. and the somehow retro feel of what we thick of as the ldquo;love themerdquo; from the movie. which has lyrics too and they call it ldquo;The Wings.rdquo; I remember in 2005 going to a dace club here in San Francisco and hearing a 17 minute disco version of this plaintive. homo-pessimist tune. ldquo;The music in Brokeback Mountain.rdquo; argues Dubowsky. ldquo;reveals a conservative perspective that allows the male couple little joy. happiness. or fulfillment in their sexuality. relationship. or life.rdquo; The men I saw at the Midnight Sun were dancing riotously but each had tears bright in his eyes. a little bit of crystal flash.
