Steven Holl sent this appreciation of Raimund Abraham, on hearing of his death in L.A. on Wednesday:
I sit here in New York in shock of Raimund Abraham’s death…after the email arrived from Eric Moss…a call from Leb Woods….I call Mark Mack and tell him, he is struck silent with shock…he had planned to attend the lecture but….I think back to 1976 at the Architecture Association where I first encountered Raimund. It was a lecture moderated by Alvin Boyarsky. I think Elia and Rem were in the audience as was all of their studio,Unit 9, which included the then unknown Zaha. Raimund had a big fedora on his head,he was smoking a cigar (in those days you could smoke in a lecture) After the presentation, he got into a nasty argument…if I recall correctly it was with Peter Eisenman—-I thought he was an egotistical fool—until I saw his mesmerizing drawings. The poetry of architecture was alive in his drawings. Much later at Cooper Union in New York, I encountered him in reviews with students sitting on the edges of their chairs. It was always very tense with John Hejduk and Raimund at Cooper. There was no sense of humor. It was all emotional dedication to architecture. John Hedjuk was the Pope, Raimund the Bishop…Cooper was a monastery. In those days New York architecture culture was poisoned by Robert Stern and Philip Johnson…they were so very fickle, changing styles with any commercial wind. The AT&T building by Philip Johnson was completed on Madison Avenue. Then Philip changed his style again to build the “lipstick “building at 885 Third Ave. Philip could be very funny in public speaking….sort of making me sick. I would go down to Cooper Union to survive. Cooper Union was like no other place on earth…it had an intensity that you could taste and smell…the serious dedication to Architecture was obsessive with John and Raimund….With their passionate teaching and argumentative presence they forged a unique moment in the history of architectural education. It was hard to love Raimund…he was so very severe. …but when you encountered him,you knew you were in the presence of someone vary rare…you were in the presence of a soul …with conviction. He certainly will be missed.
—- Steven Holl 3/4/10
(Reproduced here with permission of S. Holl.)
I'll take the steak (to save money) A glowing review of Architecture from the Outside In
I like what you think. Thank you for sharing very much.
— KINGRPG Mar 19, 08:53 PM #
People possessing genius aren’t easy, and I only knew Raimund because I was at the periphery of the Anthology Film Archives courthouse-building renovation in the 1980’s. Still I’d see him in the neighborhood, and especially at breakfast, at the NoHo Star restaurant. I NEVER asked or told him anything about architecture and sometimes at an adjacent table he would look up from his New York Times and say, very seriously, something like “I just can’t BELIEVE those Yankees….”
— Rick Rofihe Apr 4, 08:01 PM #