By Deborah DeSilets
On June 30, 1997, Morris Lapidus Called me. He had just received A follow-up letter from Kevin Alter about the Fall Lecture Series entitled, “pressing Style”. Mr. Lapidus suggested that I come over to his house so we could discuss the theme of the letter together. The idea of style was not new to him, but how was this the topic of an architectural lecture at the end of the twentieth century?
The letter mentioned that the lecture would explore the presence of style of stylishness in “design practice” and admitted that concerns of this sort “are rarely discussed directly”. In “bringing together architects, fashion, interior, and industrial designers, the symposium intended to address the eternal presence and importance of style and fashion in design.” The challenge put to Mr. Lapidus was to speak about the much-neglected aspect of “delight”.
I arrived at his apartment prepared to listen as Mr. Lapidus felt that heaven was a place where good friends would sit and talk. His golden glowing living room sparkled of a typical June day in Florida. He sat on one end of his curving gold sofa, and I in a low golden chair with his ram’s head glass coffee table between us. I knew from the sound of his voice on the phone that this would be a long conversation and I came prepared to take notes. Mr. Lapidus’s habit of mind was to reject ideas immediately to create narrative tension. I watched him cast a gaze inward and upward—as though he were watching the ribbon of an idea before his eyes. He followed an object of his inner eye and then looked straight at me and began his oratory. He explained:
“Style is not permanent. Beauty—that which Vitruvius called delight—is! In the future, “he continued,” there will be an even greater freedom of choice. Fashion will be more decided by people. Tens of thousands of people say they are designers. They aren’t. A true designer will be constantly changing. Innovation is the work of designers. The work changes as the world does. I was never looking for a final answer because there isn’t one. Technology, what will it create? A satellite-wise not world-wise style? A computer-wise not world-wise style? Style in the future will not happen in a place like France nor in America nor Italy. The freedom of choice will be more than ever before. Style in architecture, in all things, is becoming more and more universal. New things are being produced by machinery; not be the human hand. Technology is involved with instant communication, in less than half an hour—style! Style will be moving at a tremendous pace. But the common denominator will always be people. In the future there will be more focus on each individuals work which will set the tone for more extraordinary living and lifestyles. I am equally interested in lifestyle as architecture as there is a relationship—stylishness, experiences all—and impacts design. How did something happen to impress a design on someone? Every moment, I was trying to do something to the people I designed for. I was in fact—pressing style.
The world is a stage. We go home and reflect in our homes: the clothes, the “get ups”, the way people do things are discussed, reflected upon. Mostly people saw it in the movies and copied. The average person feels what he likes, and the rest doesn’t mean a thing to him. Today TV, movies, all media there is a confusion of styles. No sense of great living. There are beer cans, pretzels, and computers! People on the internet. Lives has changed. Most people don’t study the humanities. I spent thousands of hours looking at and loving the ornaments of the past. The history of that life—those symbols—that life is gone. People with money do the stock market, they don’t write poetry. Romance is dead.
In the future there will be more and more automatons—people who are free to be the same. The internet will give knowledge and tell people what to do. The great computers will create automatic not literate art and history. Now today the great art of drawing is gone. The style of the average American and European is plain and simple. The Avant Garde is less than 10%. Who is the magazine for? That 10%.” And with that he was just getting started.
If you enjoy these discussions, and want to hear more, then check out the Miami Design Preservation League lecture series entitled “Morris Lapidus: I Did It My Way. For information on the lectures discussing style, taste, and much more to be held Sept 23, Oct 7, Oct 28, and Nov 18, please contact Daniel Ciraldo Executive Director at Miami Design Preservation League, 1001 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, FL, 33139, P W: 305-672-2014, E [email protected], W mdpl.org.