Subway. Directed by Luc Besson. Starring Christopher Lambert and Isabelle Adjani.

Romance and Rebellion beneath the streets of Paris.

The dark tunnels and shadowy corners of Paris' Metro make up the subterranean world that is the backdrop of this stylish thriller. A cool rebel on the run. He literally goes underground to escape his persuers. Here he encounters a motley collection of subway denizens, including a roller skating purse snatcher, a shifty flower seller, a muscleman who works out with subway car parts, and several roving musicians. He also meets his would be lover and victim. She has come to run away with him or to kill him.

A sly mix of humour, whimsy, suspense and social comment shot almost entirely beneath the streets.

To view:

music as a guide

Subway Stories. An HBO NYC Production.

Based on 10 true stories from the underground.

New York has a reputation for being a surprising city. But you won't believe the surprises that daily rock its foundations, and the adventures that await those who venture into the serpentine subway system.

Money, laughter, fear, sexiness, strangenss and lack of, that every day shapes the lives of those who ride the subways.

To view:

love affair without words

the listeners

across the rails

music as communication

The ambiguous realm of communication is exposed in each of the 10 short stories. At times, the unique circumstances that the underground transit creates provokes people to opperate on a different level of consciousness. Unexplainable interactions and sensory transactions take place on a regular basis.
In this film the underground is portrayed poetically as a backdrop for the many unusual encounters. The subway denizens move through the metro as if it was their home - infact it is. And music is the only means of navigation. The underground system is not just a means of transit, rather it is a means of survival.

Films

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Books

Alleu, Stan (1995) Points and Lines. Princeton Architectural Press: New York.

Bachelard, Gaston. (!958) the poetics of space. Beacon Press: Boston.

Space understood qualititatively.Bachelard shows how our perceptions of various shelters shape our thoughts, memories, and dreams.

Daniel Breazeale, ed. R.J. Hollingdale, transl. (1997) Friedrich Nietszche - Untimely Meditations. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

The chapter on the 'meaning of history' indirectly informed me for the development of 'nature of thesis'.

Davidson, Cynthia C.. (1998) Anyhow. Anyhow Corporation: Cambridge.

A forum of contemporary architects.

Fink, Bruce transl. (1999) The Seminar of Jacques Lacan - On Feminine Sexuality The Limits of Love and Knowledge Book XX Encore 1972 - 1973. Norton & Company: New York.

A psycholinguistic exploration of the bounds of love and knowledge. Through mathematics, philosophy, religion, and , naturally, psychoanalysis, he delves into an entirely unexpected way of interpreting the two most fundemental human drives. Indirectly, I attained a better understanding for what is at stake when we communicate.

Gast, Klaus - Peter, ed. (1998) Louis I. Kahn - The Idea of Order. Basil

From the work of Louis Kahn, the significance of proportions in architecture is made evident.

Ghyka, Matila. (1952) Geometrical Composition and Design. Alec Tiranti Ltd.: London.

A look at what is at stake in the Classical use of Geometry to produce objective beauty.

Ghyka, Matila. (1952) Le Nombre d'Or. Gallimard: Paris.

A look at what is at stake in the Classical use of Geometry to produce objective beauty.

Hall, Edward T.. (1966) The Hidden Dimension. Doubleday & Company Inc.: New York.

Provided an appreciation for the ambiguous realm in communication and of what is at stake in our sensory worlds.

Hall, Edward T.. ( 19--) The Silent Language. Doubleday & Company Inc.: New York.

A look at what underlies the verbal language with which we communicate.

Hambidge, Dynamic Symmetry.

Provided an understanding of how dynamic symmetry was used in the past to produce meaningful architecture.

Heidegger, Martin. Ed. Albert Hofstader. (1975) Poetry, Language, Thought. Harper and Row: New York

Koho, Timo. (1995) Alvar Aalto - Urban Finland. The Finish Building Centre Ltd.: Helsinki.

Lynn, Greg. (1999) Animate Form.

Greg Lynn suggests an approach to developing forms through particle, and vector studies of effective forces. This approach produces forms that are meaningful relative to a certain point of reference, as is the case in dynamic symmetry.

Le Corbusier. Towards a New Architecture.

Le Corbusier's manifesto influenced the way in which I presented my thesis proposal.

Merleau - Ponty. (1968) The Visible and the Invisible. NorthWestern University Press: Evanston.

Perez-Gomez, Alberto. (1992) Polyphilo or The Dark Forest Revisited; An Erotic Epiphany of Architecture. MIT Press: Cambridge.

Walter Benjamin. Ed. Hanah Arendt. (1968) Illuminations: Essays and Reflections. Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, Inc.: New York

 

Personal References

Paul Laurendeau architect.

Denise Gauslaine. AMT

Bernard Thaoret. AMT

Richard Boyer. MUC

Nicole Breton. STCUM

 

Articles

Duddin, Jean-Maurice. Le cout de prolongement du metro a Laval passerait de 179 a 450 millions!. Le Journal de Montreal / Mercredi 2 Fevrier 2000.

Warson, Albert. Moving Parts. Building / March 1999.

Donn Welton, ed. Body and Flesh; A Philosophical Reader. Blackwell Publishers. Casey, Edward. The Ghost of Embodiment: on Bodily Habitudes and Schemata.

Frascari, Marco. Architecture of Demostration. JAE. November. 1990.

 

Internet

http://www.heathrowexpress.co.uk/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/technology/nyunderground/

http://www.cutact.on.ca/

http://www.amt.qc.ca/

http://www.stcum.qc.ca/