Neil Denari, His Futuristic Architecture and the Music That Inspires It

Neil Denari, his Futuristic Architecture and the Music That Inspires It

Another – contemporary – architect with dreams of changing the world is Neil Denari. He is an educator, writer and creator of buildings – from houses in Los Angeles to a condo building on New York’s High Line to a port in Keelung, Taiwan (shown in rendering, above).

Denari was one of the early enthusiasts for applying computers to architecture – not just the process of design, but metaphorically. His buildings all have a neo-futuristic look and the shiny, hard surfaces of machines. Neil says he’s interested in the development of “cultural ergonomics”, by which he means those forms that “fit” our contemporary life. And some of those forms, such as a model of hl23, his condo building overlooking New York’s High Line (shown below in aerial view from the southeast, shot by Benny Chan Fotoworks), are currently on show as part of the New Sculpturalism show at MOCA.

Denari as Guest DJ

Denari also talked to DJ Eric J Lawrence about the music that has inspired his architecture forKCRW’s Guest DJ project. Listen to Neil talk about songs and pieces of music as varied as the Theme From Shaft – Isaac Hayes; Kurt’s Rejoinder – Brian Eno; 2nd Movement, Symphony No. 5 – Glenn Branca; The Bridge – Lee Ranaldo; Keep Your Dreams – Suicide (from the First Album).