Kinetic Architecture and Aerial Rides
Towards a Media Archeology of the Revolving Restaurant View
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.v2i1.27129Keywords:
aerial rides, aerial view, aviation aesthetics, cinéma trouvé, Cold War design, film and architecture, geopolitics, media archaeology, New Film History, revolving restaurants, urban planningAbstract
In this article I show how the revolving restaurant view can be investigated media archeologically as an optical device. As a methodology media archeology enables me to “discover” or unpack hidden connections between architectural structures, mobile mechanical observation units and information technology, allowing the concept of the cinematic to be a concern also of the architectural. This preliminary comment is part of a bigger project where I show how a media archeologically motivated analysis of the parallel development of kinetic structures, aerial rides and new imaging technologies have the potential to confront and open up new perspectives on the increasing aero-visual predominance in our culture and society.
References
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Bruno, G. 2002. Atlas of Emotion: Journeys in Art, Architecture and Film. London: Verso.
Benjamin, W. 1997 [1935]. “Paris – Capital of the Nineteenth Century.” In Charles Baudelaire: A Lyric Poet in the Era of High Capitalism, by W. Benjamin and translated by H. Zohn, 155–176. London: Verso.
Bull.Miletic. 2011. “Heaven Can Wait: The Revolving Restaurant as Hyper Cinema.” In Urban mages: Unruly Desires in Film and Architecture, edited by S. Bull and M. Paasche, 146–163. Berlin: Sternberg Press.
Bush, D. J. 1979 “Futurama: World’s Fair as Utopia.” Alternative Futures 2(4): 3–20.
Colomina, B. 2008. “Enclosed by Images: The Eameses’ Multimedia Architecture.” In Art and the Moving Image: A Critical Reader, edited by T. Leighton, 75–91. London: Tate Publishing.
Dorrian, M. 2007. “The Aerial View: Notes for a Cultural History.” Strates 13(22). Available online: http://strates.revues.org/5573.
____. and F. Pousin, eds. 2013. Seeing from Above: The Aerial View in Visual Culture. London: I.B. Taurus.
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Elsaesser, T. 2004. “The New Film History as Media Archaeology.” CINéMAS 14(2–3) 71–117.
____. 2013. “The ‘Return’ of 3D: On Some of the Logics and Genealogies of the Image in the Twenty-First Century.” Critical Inquiry 39(2): 217–246. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/668523
Ernst, W. 2010. “Cultural Archive versus Technomathematical Storage.” In The Archive in Motion, edited by E. Røssaak, 53–73. Oslo: Novus Press.
Farocki, H. 2012. Parallel (Video installation). Taipei: Taipei Fine Arts Museum.
Foucault, M. 1986. “Of Other Spaces.” Translated by J. Miskowiec. Diacritics 16: 22–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/464648
Friedberg, A. 1993. Window Shopping: Cinema and the Post Modern. Berkeley: University of California Press.
____. 2006. The Virtual Window: From Alberti to Microsoft. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Gibson, J. 1979. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Gunning, T. 1986. “The Cinema of Attractions: Early Film, Its Spectator and the Avant-Garde.” Wide Angle 8(3–4): 63–70.
____. 2011. “One-Way Street: Urban Chronotopes in Ruttman’s Berlin: Symphony of a Great City and Conrad’s Halsted Street.” Urban Images: Unruly Desires in Art and Architecture, edited by S. Bull and M. Paasche, 62–79. Berlin: Sternberg Press
____. 2012. “Hand and Eye: Excavating a New Technology of the Image in the Victorian Era.” Victorian Studies 54(3): 495–516. http://dx.doi.org/10.2979/victorianstudies.54.3.495
____. Forthcoming. ”Nothing Will Have Taken Place Except Space: The Unsettling Nature of Camera Movement.” In Screen Space Reconfigured, edited by S. Ø. Sæther and S. T. Bull, Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam Press.
Hauss-Fitton, B. 1994. “Futurama, New York World’s Fair 1939-1940.” Rassegna 60: 5–69.
Huhtamo, E. and J. Parikka, eds. 2011. Media Archaeology: Approaches, Applications, and Implications. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Kittler, F. A. 1999. Gramophone, Film, Typewriter. Translated by G. Winthrop-Young and M. Wutz. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Levi, P. 2012. Cinema by Other Means. New York: Oxford University Press.
Marchand, R. 1992. “The Designers Go to the Fair II: Norman Bel Geddes, The General Motors’ ‘Futurama,’ and the Visit to the Factory Transformed.” Design Issues 8(2): 23–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1511638
Morgan, D. 2015. “Beyond Destiny and Design: Camera Movement in Fritz Lang’s German Films.” In A Companion to Fritz Lang, edited by J. McElhaney. Oxford: Blackwell. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118587751.ch14
Morshed, A. 2004. “The Aesthetics of Ascension in Norman Bel Geddes’ Futurama.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 63(1): 74–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/4127993
Ockman, J. 2000. “Architecture in a Mode of Distraction: Eight Takes on Jacques Tati’s Playtime.” In Architecture and Film, edited by M. Lamster, 171–196. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Sennet, R. 1993. The Conscience of the Eye: The Design and Social Life of Cities. London: Faber and Faber.
Schivelbusch, W. 1986. The Railway Journey: The Industrialization of Time and Space in the 19th Century. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Steyerl, H. 2012. The Wretched of the Screen. Berlin: Steinberg Press.
Virilio, P. 1997. Open Sky. Translated by J. Rose. London: Verso.
Weizman, E. 2015 “Violence at the Threshold of Detectability.” e-flux 64. Available online: http://www.e-flux.com/journal/violence-at-the-threshold-of-detectability/
World View, n.d. “About World View Enterprises, Inc.” Avialable online: http://worldviewexperience.com/about/
Bruno, G. 2002. Atlas of Emotion: Journeys in Art, Architecture and Film. London: Verso.
Benjamin, W. 1997 [1935]. “Paris – Capital of the Nineteenth Century.” In Charles Baudelaire: A Lyric Poet in the Era of High Capitalism, by W. Benjamin and translated by H. Zohn, 155–176. London: Verso.
Bull.Miletic. 2011. “Heaven Can Wait: The Revolving Restaurant as Hyper Cinema.” In Urban mages: Unruly Desires in Film and Architecture, edited by S. Bull and M. Paasche, 146–163. Berlin: Sternberg Press.
Bush, D. J. 1979 “Futurama: World’s Fair as Utopia.” Alternative Futures 2(4): 3–20.
Colomina, B. 2008. “Enclosed by Images: The Eameses’ Multimedia Architecture.” In Art and the Moving Image: A Critical Reader, edited by T. Leighton, 75–91. London: Tate Publishing.
Dorrian, M. 2007. “The Aerial View: Notes for a Cultural History.” Strates 13(22). Available online: http://strates.revues.org/5573.
____. and F. Pousin, eds. 2013. Seeing from Above: The Aerial View in Visual Culture. London: I.B. Taurus.
Egan, T. 2012. “Miracles in the Clouds.” New York Times, 7 June. Available online: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/07/miracles-in-the-clouds/
Elsaesser, T. 2004. “The New Film History as Media Archaeology.” CINéMAS 14(2–3) 71–117.
____. 2013. “The ‘Return’ of 3D: On Some of the Logics and Genealogies of the Image in the Twenty-First Century.” Critical Inquiry 39(2): 217–246. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/668523
Ernst, W. 2010. “Cultural Archive versus Technomathematical Storage.” In The Archive in Motion, edited by E. Røssaak, 53–73. Oslo: Novus Press.
Farocki, H. 2012. Parallel (Video installation). Taipei: Taipei Fine Arts Museum.
Foucault, M. 1986. “Of Other Spaces.” Translated by J. Miskowiec. Diacritics 16: 22–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/464648
Friedberg, A. 1993. Window Shopping: Cinema and the Post Modern. Berkeley: University of California Press.
____. 2006. The Virtual Window: From Alberti to Microsoft. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Gibson, J. 1979. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Gunning, T. 1986. “The Cinema of Attractions: Early Film, Its Spectator and the Avant-Garde.” Wide Angle 8(3–4): 63–70.
____. 2011. “One-Way Street: Urban Chronotopes in Ruttman’s Berlin: Symphony of a Great City and Conrad’s Halsted Street.” Urban Images: Unruly Desires in Art and Architecture, edited by S. Bull and M. Paasche, 62–79. Berlin: Sternberg Press
____. 2012. “Hand and Eye: Excavating a New Technology of the Image in the Victorian Era.” Victorian Studies 54(3): 495–516. http://dx.doi.org/10.2979/victorianstudies.54.3.495
____. Forthcoming. ”Nothing Will Have Taken Place Except Space: The Unsettling Nature of Camera Movement.” In Screen Space Reconfigured, edited by S. Ø. Sæther and S. T. Bull, Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam Press.
Hauss-Fitton, B. 1994. “Futurama, New York World’s Fair 1939-1940.” Rassegna 60: 5–69.
Huhtamo, E. and J. Parikka, eds. 2011. Media Archaeology: Approaches, Applications, and Implications. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Kittler, F. A. 1999. Gramophone, Film, Typewriter. Translated by G. Winthrop-Young and M. Wutz. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Levi, P. 2012. Cinema by Other Means. New York: Oxford University Press.
Marchand, R. 1992. “The Designers Go to the Fair II: Norman Bel Geddes, The General Motors’ ‘Futurama,’ and the Visit to the Factory Transformed.” Design Issues 8(2): 23–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1511638
Morgan, D. 2015. “Beyond Destiny and Design: Camera Movement in Fritz Lang’s German Films.” In A Companion to Fritz Lang, edited by J. McElhaney. Oxford: Blackwell. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118587751.ch14
Morshed, A. 2004. “The Aesthetics of Ascension in Norman Bel Geddes’ Futurama.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 63(1): 74–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/4127993
Ockman, J. 2000. “Architecture in a Mode of Distraction: Eight Takes on Jacques Tati’s Playtime.” In Architecture and Film, edited by M. Lamster, 171–196. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Sennet, R. 1993. The Conscience of the Eye: The Design and Social Life of Cities. London: Faber and Faber.
Schivelbusch, W. 1986. The Railway Journey: The Industrialization of Time and Space in the 19th Century. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Steyerl, H. 2012. The Wretched of the Screen. Berlin: Steinberg Press.
Virilio, P. 1997. Open Sky. Translated by J. Rose. London: Verso.
Weizman, E. 2015 “Violence at the Threshold of Detectability.” e-flux 64. Available online: http://www.e-flux.com/journal/violence-at-the-threshold-of-detectability/
World View, n.d. “About World View Enterprises, Inc.” Avialable online: http://worldviewexperience.com/about/
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Published
2015-09-02
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How to Cite
Bull, S. T. (2015). Kinetic Architecture and Aerial Rides: Towards a Media Archeology of the Revolving Restaurant View. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology, 2(1), 58-66. https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.v2i1.27129
