A Dose of Wisdom

“No human community can exist without culture.”

This is the wisdom shared by Vaclav Havel.

Vaclav, a former playwright and elected first president of the Czech Republic, shared this bit of insight as part of the Wisdom project.

Wisdom is the work of 34 year old New York based photographer Andrew Zuckerman who completed the project in 2008.

Inspired by the idea that one of the greatest gifts a generation can give to the next is wisdom gained from experience, the project consists of a collection of 50 photographs/interviews that capture the wisdom of legendary leaders and visionaries, over the age of sixty-five, from the worlds of politics, science, sports and the arts.

Wisdom exists in the form of a book of portraits, a film and a travelling exhibition.

The latter (the exhibition’s Canadian premiere) is on display at Toronto’s elegant Brookfield Place (formerly BCE Place) until August 5^th, 2011.

Each copy of the book comes with a download code for a 60-minute film comprised of interviews from the project.

Among the global personalities featured are people such as Actor/Director (and all around Dirty Harry) Clint Eastwood, Diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger, first woman to become United States Secretary of State Madeline Albright and Actor Robert Redford.

There are also two notable characters as far as Poland and Canada are concerned. The first is Zbigniew Brzezinski, Warsaw born, McGill University educated, former United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter.

The second, is world renowned architect Frank Gehry who was born in Toronto and hails from Polish Jewish ancestry.

Wisdom is an inspiring and rewarding exhibition. If you’re in need of a gust of in your sails make sure to check it out. Best of all, it’s free!

And if you’re looking to combine the show with a nice dinner – we recommend either Ki  (Modern Japanese) or the eclectic Marché which are just steps away.

Enjoy your dose of wisdom!

But before you dig in, check out this trailer for the film…

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New York by Gehry

At 870 feet tall, it is the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere.

Opened in February of 2011, New York by Gehry (originally known as Beekman Tower) is a 76-story skyscraper designed by Canadian born architect Frank Gehry.

Gehry, who hails from Polish Jewish ancestry, was recently selected by a panel of architectural experts brought together by Vanity Fair as “the most important architect of our age.”

Located at 8 Spruce St. in Lower Manhattan the sparkling stainless steel skyscraper contains 903 luxury residential units. The first five floors of the building are home to an elementary school attended by 600 children.

The building is a breathtaking addition to the Manhattan skyline. Its exterior facade looks like it is being blown by the wind.

Although Frank Gehry created the outside, he was not responsible for the interior design. Nevertheless, it’s still worthwhile to have a look.

The interiors are sleek, simple and warm.

Ladies and Gentleman…New York by Frank Gehry.

What do you think?

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And now…One of The Most Influential Architects of Our Time

Vanity Fair magazine recently asked 90 of the world’s leading architects, teachers, and critics to identify the most important structure completed since the 1980s. 

Anyone with good taste can pretty much attest to the fact that architecture in the 80’s was downright atrocious. It was a period characterized by power-structures that were cold and lacked personality and imagination. 

So, in their voting, the experts looked at buildings that blazed new trails and that helped chart a more exciting course in world architecture. 

When all the votes were counted, the overwhelming winner was the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; the masterpiece created by architect Frank Gehry who was born in Toronto and hails from Polish Jewish ancestry. 

Of the building, the Pulitzer Prize winning critic Paul Goldberger, author of Why Architecture Matters, said that it “…became an extraordinary phenomenon.” 

In its summary, Vanity Fair called Gehry “the most important architect of our age,” who received additional votes for three other projects: the Walt Disney Concert Hall, in Los Angeles; Millennium Park, in Chicago; and his house in Santa Monica. 

Other than creating the most important structures of our time, Frank Gehry, keeps himself occupied by designing jewelry, sports trophies and… Vodka bottles. 

 

Some time ago he created a distinctively Gehrian bottle for the Wyborowa Single Estate. 

The first bottles were presented as gifts to Academy Awards attendees, in a special wooden crates. 

The company that hired him said that the “bottle design conveys a fusion of the Polish heritage and contemporary sophistication and mirrors the beauty and exquisite quality of Wyborowa Single Estate.” 

Gehry explained to Newsweek that the twist design came from an office building that he designed in Germany. 

“When you look through the bottle, it plays with the light and creates an illusory image,” he said. 

Perhaps so, but we think that the “illusory image” might also have to do something with the bottles 80 proof contents.

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