Interview: Peter Eisenman 3.19.83 N.Y.

I found this old "Journal of the School of Architecture, Univertsity of Illinois at Chicago" at a downtown Hillcrest used bookstore, with a great interview of a young Peter Eisenman.

T: Do we ever need architecture?

PE: I do not know. It is even questionable in a mass consumer society if architecture can be anything more than decorating functions, like fashion design. But never confuse styling with poetry. I have never understood why a factory needs architecture, except for the problem of packing and marketing. in the deepest sense, I have never understood wht mass society needs architecture. The only people who need poetry or literature are those who in the deepest sense cannot do without it. I do not need Shakespeare for breakfast and Bach on Muzak. Only those people who wabt architecture should have it-it should not be force-fed to them. You ask if my ideas could help-I never thought that anybody's ideas could help. I think poets write poetry to help themselves. I need to design for myself. It is a fundamental need in the individual psyche. I do not physically need architecture; I need it physically. There are certain times when I might need architecture.I am not sure I have to live in it or work on it.