Conservative measures

摘要

Architect Adam Yarinsky of Architecture Research Office (ARO) thinks experiencing Donald Judd's art can help architecture make a more vital connection to contemporary life. It is this conviction that made the design-led practice want to take on a restoration. Writing about one of Judd's large-scale works, Yarinsky says: '...it was not an object to which I reacted, but rather an instigator of a new reciprocal relationship between itself and me'. Similarly 101 Spring Street intuitively gives every visitor a heightened sense of spatial awareness. Yarinsky has also discovered (from Judd's bookcase) that he and Judd shared an interest in Adolf Loos, particularly in the complex interlocking of spaces. I buy his argument that 101 Spring Street is not primarily a historic building, but essentially a very large work of art, of profound relevance to architecture.