… the son of Hitler’s favorite architect and the designer of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, to design the master plan for the Beijing Games, China’s government has itself alluded to the radical politicization of aesthetics that was a hallmark of 20th-century totalitarianism.
Like those regimes, whether fascist or communist, China’s leaders have sought to transform public space and sporting events into visible proof of their fitness and mandate to rule.
Speer’s commission was to lay out a master plan for the access to the Olympic complex in Beijing. His design centered on the construction of an imposing avenue to connect the Forbidden City and the National Stadium in which the opening ceremony will take place. His father’s plan for “Germania,” the name Adolf Hitler selected for the Berlin that he planned to construct after World War II, also relied on such a mighty central axis.
Via Mick Hartley.
maybe they’ve hired Leni’s daughter to do the movie ??
So someone noticed eh?
Is this not a case of “guilt by association”? Should the offspring of EVERYONE that was, in ANY way, associated with the Nazi’s be shunned forever?
As a sidenote, this is an interesting trifle, but I think it’s a bit of a stretch to read too much into this.
So What ?
The important question is — does his design ‘work’, not who used this idea first. This Nazi ‘thing’ has got to stop. What made the Nazis morally abhorrent was their beliefs and practices, not their preferred architectural models.
“leaders have sought to transform public space and sporting events into visible proof of their fitness and mandate to rule” since the pyramids.
Every castle, cathedral & columned financial edifice can be viewed the same way. Impress the peasants.
Interesting comment dizzy, but if the peasants aren’t “impressed” you can bet the rent they will be “suppressed”
Cheers Bubba
Oh, come on. They could have picked a million other architects. And the son should be ashamed to work for these monsters who harvest organs from political prisoners and try to bribe parents to shut up about their children buried under crumbled schools.
I am suprised to say this but I agree with Eeyore.
Kate, that was a fascinating and stimulating read. Thanks for posting it.
My understanding after reading Speers Sr’s book (Inside the Third Reich) was that Hitler himself was the one who came up with the grand reorganization plan for Berlin, it was Senior who provide architectural design, interior design and construction supervision.
Based on that, not sure that you can make the connection here.
What absolute arrogant nonsense. Since when are the intellectual opinions and design perspectives that a person has – hereditary.
So what if his father designed for Hitler? What rubbish to assert that this makes the son’s design or views or perspective ‘totalitarian’ or ‘fascist’.
As for the inane comment that the games are also showing China’s ‘fitness and mandate to rule’ – of course they are. Same with any massive international event put on by any country; of course that country wants to put on a show that is professional, spectacular, modern etc. Why shouldn’t they?
The sneers of the West are juvenile. I heard one CBC comment, when the firework display began, disparaging them – because of ‘pollution’. What a smug self-righteous comment.
China has done a superb job of organization for the Olympics. Instead of smug superiority, we ought to encourage them even more, to modernize and humanize. It’s not easy – they’ve been a society organized around the group – and to modernize, they must focus on individual rights – a concept utterly foreign to the Chinese. So, how about realizing that you don’t fling out several thousand years of lifestyle overnight…
And Nicole – get over your distorted view of the Chinese. They aren’t monsters and are, frankly, no different than most of us. They have, of all countries in the East, made the most rapid progress from a peasant economy to a modern industrial economy. The only comparable one, in my view, is Japan – and it was helped after WWII by the US to modernize.
It was a great idea to have China do these Olympics; it has brought them into the public view of the world – and they need that view – so that they can continue to modernize. How about helping them – rather than sneering at them.
Oh – and they have private property rights; we in Canada don’t have that. And remember, we have our thought and speech police; we have to watch what we say and write – or the HRC will come after us.
On the one hand, Dr. Porche designed for Hitler, and the resulting Volkswagen was a work of sheer genius. I have a race car based on Dr. Porche’s design sitting in my yard. The car is friggin’ brilliant.
On the other, the car turned out well -despite- everything Herr Hitler had to do with it, from my understanding. Brains baffling bullsh1t for once, Dr. Porche managed to make the thing work anyway.
Architecture is a different matter. These Olympic venues are nothing but propaganda. The buildings are propaganda cast in stone, nothing but.
Mr. Speer the 1st. worked for Adolph, you’d think his son would have had the brains to steer clear of totalitarian dictators given what happened to the old man, but to design the Beijing Olympics?
Jeeze!
ET, I must admit I am quite satisfied that Beijing got this Olympics. Because it could be worse, this friggin’ propaganda exercise could be taking place in TORONTO right now. That would have been a gawd awful disaster.
I recall at the time that some kind of fruitbat poverty-advocacy group called “Bread Not Circuses” helped to scuttle the Toronto bid. One of the only instances I know of where a Lefty nut group from Hogtown managed to do something useful deliberately.
Now I can safely ignore the whole thing, content in the knowledge that the Chinese peasants are paying for it with their blood sweat and tears, instead of me paying for it with mine.
The whole of the Chicom leadership should be hauled into the middle of that Olympic stadium and shot. With a ball of their own sh1t, they aren’t worth the lead.
Too little too late, given the millions they’ve killed over the years, but better late than never.
nope, phantom – I disagree. You don’t seem to know much about China; its long history; its innovations; its current task of moderniziation.
The Chinese have undertaken the enormous task of moving a population in the multimillions, from a peasant agricultural mode, to a modern industrial mode, in a generation. If you think that’s easy – well, what can I say.
No, China isn’t as totalitarian as you prefer it to be visualized. Our HRCs are an example of our own totalitarian tendency. Don’t think that Canada is totally free; it isn’t.
You aren’t aware of how much free enterprise, private business and openness to the rest of the world is emerging in China.
No, the Chinese peasants are not paying for the Olympics in ‘blood, sweat and tears’. What nonsense.
You sneer at China, ignoring how much change it has accomplished in a generation, and how much it will continue to change. It is now, effectively, capitalist. Democracy follows.
China is rapidly modernizing – you view with contempt its attempts to change itself from a peasant agricultural rural sustenance economy to an urban, modern industrial nation. Why? China has an enormous focus on science and technology, on new inventions in science and technology – and this focus will also help modernize it and enable it to focus on the individual rather than the group.
You seem to assert our superiority. Why? Did we in Canada develop our current status by ourselves? Most certainly not. Our democracy comes from Greece and Britain and the US. Our science comes from Western Europe and the US. Our industrial economy – the same – and we don’t have to compete with the rest of the world to purchase our goods; we simply export 85% to the US.
What we are, is due to the people and nations of our past. China had a different past. Kindly stop sneering at its attempts to modernize.
ET, Ma’am, I never ever miss a chance to sneer at socialists or their centrally planned propaganda. I’m an equal-opportunity ass kicker, I’ll go after Canadian socialists or Chinese ones, its all the same great big manure pile so far as I’m concerned.
Three words to remember: Great. Leap. Forward.
Or two words: Cultural. Revolution.
I know more about China and her people than you might suspect, I just don’t talk about it much. I’ve always been extremely impressed with most parts of Chinese culture. Tai Chi for example. I was so impressed I studied it for years. Time well spent.
I’m just not as enthusiastic about their government or the reasons that government has for doing things. China’s modernization drive right now is a mile wide and a foot deep. Its a centrally controlled, centrally planned expansion being done to improve their -military- capacity, and it is being done at the expense of the Chinese people. Not for their benefit.
Example, the Chinese stock exchange. Have a look at the main index chart, note the asymptotic rise these last few years. See what you think is going to happen to all those yuan invested by all those peasants when the 10% annual growth rate takes a little setback. If you want a preview, look up the Dutch Tulip Crash.
//www.investopedia.com/features/crashes/crashes2.asp
The peasants are being used to float this huge expansion, and if all their savings are wiped out in an afternoon’s trading the government still has all those nice factories to crank out munitions. Added bonus, the government guys have this great big lovely new ARMY to keep the rubes in line.
Its a hell of a great way to live, as long as you are part of the Big Boss’s plan. If not, oh well… there’s a billion more where you came from.
The extent to which Canada is exceeded in freedoms by Communist China is indeed a disgrace. But the absolute worst crap Ottawa gets up to (to date, at least) is a pale shadow compared to the Chicoms.
I’m not sneering at the Chinese people or their hard work to get ahead. I’m sneering at a bunch of bloody handed killers and thieves dressed up in silk suits, pretending to give a tinker’s damn about Olympic sport.
They care exactly as much as Adolph did in 1936. And Speer would know, his old man set the standard for this kind of show.
ET, you are sounding rather self-righteous I must say.
A few months ago the National Geographic did a couple of very good articles on China – you should dig the issue up and read it – you might change your views.
When I see China on the world stage they look and act a bit like children.
China would be *nothing* were it not for the fact that they have provided the world’s manufacturers with a dirt cheap labour pool. Unfortunately that labour pool is used to manufacture mostly junk.
If they want to build their reputation as being the manufacturers of junk that’s up to them. But we’ll see how long they last when the world tires of the Walmart model.
Is this a good or bad time to post this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04QoA44c23A
“I Like Chinese”
-Monty Python
TJ – I don’t use the National Geographic as a data source for Chinese studies; I use academic research. And the Chinese themselves do a LOT of scientific research.
phantom – you don’t give much evidence of knowledge of China or its history. Tai Chi is hardly an example of societal, political or economic knowledge.
You are ignoring the transformation of a peasant economy to an industrial economy in one generation. That requires a top down authoritarianism. It took the West over 500 extremely violent years to make that transition. To do it in one generation – unbelievable.
And to have waited for such a change and allowed a ‘bottom up’ transformation would have actually meant, in all likelihood, failure – and even, the breakup of the country or invasion from external imperialist agendas (Japan, Russia).
What ‘savings’ of the peasants? Peasants don’t have savings.
What happens now, is a second transformation, made possible by the first one. This is from the ‘bottom up’ – which is the rapid transformation of China into a capitalist enterprise. Democracy follows, to enable that capitalism to prosper.
TJ – Wal*Mart? What’s wrong with inexpensive goods? Or do you think the whole world runs on Gucci? Don’t be such a snob. Only 20% of a population can afford Gucci. What about the rest of us?
As for your remark that ‘they look and act like children’ – that’s a juvenile remark.
Sorry ET, you’re not making much sense. Your comments remind me of what was said in the 80’s when we were told that the Japanese were going to rule the world.
If China wants to play on the world stage they had better get used to a bit of criticism. They are far from perfect.