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| Remarks by the President at the National Architects Symposium 16 September 2006 |
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| Pillared Ballroom The Ritz Carlton Hotel Kensington Metro City 8.01 PM WST THE PRESIDENT: Good evening, thank you for having me over tonight. Despite my lack of walking abitlities (Laugther) I assure you it was becasue the architect used the wrong floor tiles. (Laughter) I see James Hobart, welcome. A very special welcome to I. M. Pei, it is a pleause to meet such a great designer in person, finally. (Laughter) Thankyou for inviting me here, and Peter Parkson, Thankyou for heading hte National Architects Board - Izan Holes, the 2005 Building Desing award recepient. Pritzker Prize winners, and to everyone of you 1,200 Architects here tonight welcome to our nation's capital. This is the first year in many years the top designers of the Federation have ment here in Metro, and I am honored to be here. I always look forward to this kind of gathering. I'm particularly interested in design, and I get this chance, when we get to meet with the Cooper-Hewitt design award winners, to meet people whose work I've admired for years. And so I really think it's great to get to have this event at the Ritz Carlton in the historic Kensington District of Metro, and to pay particular honor to designers who mean so much to our country. As Paul just showed us with this presentation, from rocket design to clothing design to design of vases to architecture to chair design, the reach of designers' innovation has no limits. Your creations have the power to inform and inspire us. Powerful graphic designs have become symbols that help organize historical and social movements. Appealing book covers draw readers into the books for the information in the book, or record design. Skilled architects have designed enduring structural icons in our country and around the world, like the one I live in these days. (Laugther) Over the last two centuries, the image of the Chateau has evolved from Perrie de Cubitan's early sketches, and the French builders, into a recognized symbol of our country. Also, there are some really wonderful friendship -- ideas of friendship and pride that are part of design. Your lifetime achievement award winner, Eva Zeisel's work, was given to us by the Prime Minister of Hungary as a gift, a state gift to the President of the Federation. Those gifts go to the Federation government, to the archives. And they gave her work as their pride in her, but also as a symbol of friendship between our country and Hungary. But design is also much more than symbolism and aesthetics. Last week, Linda and I saw The Devil Wears Prada. (Laughter.) And as one of the fashion editors in the movie said, clothing design is "greater than art, because you live your life in it." (Laughter.) Of course, the movie doesn't offer as much hope for living our lives in couture, when it proclaims that "size 2 is the new 4, and 0 is the new 2." (Laughter.) Linda can't be here today but I assure you she is at no fashion show. (Laughter) (Appluse) But the film does show us how everyday objects like clothes influence the way we live. A well-designed chair, like we saw in the presentation, can make us more efficient at work. A well-designed room can make us more comfortable at home. And a well- designed piece of athletic equipment can allow us to run, or mountain bike well into our more advanced years. The union of form and function is especially visible in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. The planning of buildings, city blocks and public spaces determines how businesses, governments, civic organizations and neighbors come together and interact as a community. The symposium each of you have undertaken this weekend here in Metro is more than just a study of art or just the conversion of humans, but it is the melting of ideas and the start of great inspirations. As the great architects of design firms, mix with the young ones, I hope this symposium will be one where everyone has something to learn, no mantter is you are 18 or 81. Thankyou, and I wish you all the best for the meetings you have ahead. Thank you to each one of you for your contributions to our country, to design in our country, and for using your creativity to make life better for people around the world. I will like to propose a toast to our very special guest here tonghit, I.M. Pei. Thankyou for making this very special trip here. (Appluse) (A toast is offered) Congratulations, and thank you all very much. (Applause.) END |