Christian Menn: Brücken / Bridges

"Do you remember your first bridge?" Caspar Schärer asks Swiss civil engineer Christian Menn, one of the great contemporary bridge builders. It is difficult to think of a less uninspiring question and the rest of the questions by Schärer aren't much better but might serve as proof that it doesn't really matter who is asking what for when the person asked is willing to tell stories he will – regardless what has been asked, and by whom.

Brücken / Bridges comes with texts in German and English and is introduced by Christian Menn's My Philosophy of Bridge Building in which he elaborates on the antecedents of a bridge design, competitions, standards, the goals of bridge design, safety, durability, serviceability, economy, aesthetic quality, bridge aesthetics, the balance of cost and aesthetic quality, and the development of a bridge concept.

For somebody like me, who has never really thought about anything to do with bridge building, sentences like: "Bridges are functional objects that play an essential role in transportation systems, carrying pedestrians, highway traffic, railways, and even ships. They must satisfy challenging and complex requirements relating to transportation, structural function, exonomy, the environment, and culture" sound akin to revelations for they are clear, simple, and to the point.

Christian Menn, born 1927 in Meiringen, attended high school in Chur and studied civil engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) from which he graduated in 1950. In 1957, he started his own engineering company in Chur and began work on various bridge projects in Switzerland and, later on, also abroad. "After retiring, Menn remained actively involved in numerous projects, many of them for prize-winning bridges that have won international acclaim, such as the Sunniberg Bridge near Klosters."

The Sunniberg Bridge was opened on 9 December 2005. In his inauguration speech, Federal Councilor Moritz Leuenberger, said: "This bridge is culture. It is a work of art not just in appearance, but also in how it came about. What brings people together is not just the finished bridge, for its planning and construction were also collective undertakings entailing the interaction of all the various human and technical elements." In the words of Christian Menn: "A bridge cannot be built by one man alone. It is the work of many hands."

Brücken / Bridges is a formidable tome that contains, on the one hand, projects by Menn's engineering firm from 1957 to 1971 as well as designs and consultancy projects after 1971, and, on the other hand, texts by David. P. Billington (The influence of Robert Maillart and Othmar Ammann on Christian Menn), Luzi Bärtsch (Bridge building from the politician's perspective), Werner Oechslin (An ideal balance of harmony and elegance), Joseph Schwartz (On architecture in bridge building), and Iso Camartin (Bridge stories).

Looking at the photographs in this tome fills me with awe. Needless to say, this has primarily to do with the constructions. It has however also to do with the photographer or the photographers. Most of the photos were taken by Ralph Feiner who did a truly outstanding job – I cannot remember having seen more impressive photographs of bridges and by this I mean that the photographer's ingenuity in identifying the angles from which to shoot is definitely remarkable. Obviously, quite some walking, hiking, and climbing up and down was required to get to the spots from where the photographs were taken.

I felt most fascinated by the views of bridges in my vicinity  – the bridge over the Rhine, Bad Ragaz; the Swiss Federal Railways overpass in Buchs  – that I've never really paid attention to. This has now changed – for photos, there is no doubt about it, can make one see.

In sum: Works of art photographed by an artist.

Caspar Schärer / Christian Menn (Hrsg. / Eds.)

Fotografien / Photographs Ralph Feiner

BRÜCKEN / BRIDGES

Scheidegger & Spiess, Zürich 2015

The James Bond Archives

When counselling, I often advise: Just imagine you're James Bond! Needless to say, I usually get rather irritated looks. Is he probably slightly mad? seems to cross quite some minds. And, so I start elaborating: I do not mean you should attempt to become superman (or superwoman), I mean something completely different. Can you imagine Bond suffering from motivation problems? Sure, after a completed mission he prefers to stay under the duvet with his lover and does not want to be disturbed by calls from London. But that is at the end of the movie. Apart from that he's always ready to do what is required from him. Never does he complain, criticise or find fault with the universe. He always acts like a gentleman. In this sense, he could very well be a role model.

Looking at stills of action movie making feels weird and fascinating. To be shown how Bond and his companions are constantly surrounded by lots of people, some of them holding cameras and microphones, very likely destroys quite some of the sensations one might have experienced while watching the movies. It is a rather sobering experience to realise that the movie heroes (yes, we knew that, of course ... but nevertheless) are hardly more than puppets on a string.

The James Bond Archives is an impressive document that lets us participate in the very human endeavours that go into the making of a movie. I do especially warm to the scenes in which the actors and actresses seemingly have fun and appear to be most relaxed.

Among the discoveries to be made is "Casino Royale", the first James Bond parody that is based on the Jan Fleming novel. Shot in 1967, it is starring Peter Sellers, Ursula  Andress, David Niven, Orson Welles ... and Woody Allen! Ursula Andress said about it: "Peter Sellers wanted to change the whole script every day and every day he got into a big fight with the producer Charlie Feldman. Then Peter Sellers walked off, and we had to wait. It was the craziest film I ever made."

"There is only one recipe for a best seller. You have to get the reader to turn over the page", Ian Fleming, the creator of the fourteen James Bond novels once remarked. In a Playboy interview that introduces this tome he was asked whether, as some psychologists seem to believe, "neurosis is a concomitant of the creative drive" to which is responds: "I think this is perfectly true. I think to be a creative writer or a creative anything else, you've got to be neurotic. I certainly am in many respects. I'm not quite certain how but I am. I'm rather melancholic and probably slightly maniacal as well."

 The James Bond Archives provides not only plenty so far unpublished movie stills as well as production memos from filming but also an oral history recounted by over 150 actors, actresses, producers, directors, stage designers, and stuntmen. The actress Honor Blackman, who starred in "Goldfinger", summed up succinctly, by quoting producer Harry Saltzman, the appeal of the Bond movies. "Harry Saltzman always said that women came out of a Bond movie dreaming about Bond and the men came out walking tall. That's the attraction of the Bond films. I think, that men identify with him, and the females want him."

The James Bond Archives is a hugely informative and most enjoyable tome. It is indeed, as the publisher says, "a comprehensive tribute to the legend of James Bond". This is how editor Paul Duncan introduces the book: "Exactly half way though the first James Bond film, Dr. No, Bond prepares a trap for Professor Dent. Bond arranges a bedroom to make it look as though he is asleep in bed, then calmly puts a silencer on his gun, and plays a card game as he waits behind the doorway. Deep into the night, Dent carefully opens the bedroom door and empties his gun into the bed. Bond, knowing that Dent's gun is empty – "You've had your six," he says – shoots Dent in cold blood, then puts another round into Dent as he lies on the floor. Bond, still sitting, unscrews his silencer and blows into it, contemplating his next move.

This is the quintessential Bond moment. Up to this point, Bond has been a charming, cultivated gentleman, equally at home in a casino or a seafront bar, fully able to repel attacks from devious chauffeurs or rapacious women. And then he kills without hesitation, for Queen and Country. It is the first time that we understand what it means to have a licence to kill."

Disclaimer: When advising people to imagine 007 as a role model, I do of course not refer to his licence to kill.

Paul Duncan, Editor

The James Bond Archives

Taschen, Cologne 2015

Morning Sun on the Pizol

As seen from my balcony in Sargans on 24 November 2015

My Brazilian Zen Pics

These pics were taken in the beginning of January 2016; the one below in front of the cathedral in Santa Cruz do Sul, the other two at a pond on a private property outside of town.

I call them my Brazilian Zen pics. They were taken without much thinking, just looking.

Why Zen pics? Because they show nothing special but radiate calm.

And, they bring me back to the moment I was taking them.

Revisiting Santa Cruz do Sul

It has been six years since I was last here. Some things have changed, some seemingly not. And in quite some cases I'm not sure whether I'm seeing something for the first time or whether I've seen it before. The building over there, for instance, on that hill. Surely, I would remember it if I had seen it before. So, is it new? But it does not look new, not at all ... well, it could still be, you never know. Like the concrete tower in which I lived in China that, I was told, was only one year old but looked like it had been there much, much longer.

What is however definitely very different is the weather. The first few days, that is. It is overcast, and raining, and I'm not enchanted. There used to be sunshine at this time of the year. And, as far as I'm concerned, there should be sunshine. I don't like things changing. And then, two days later (patience is not one of my virtues), there is sunshine. There are times when I do like things changing ...

Stepping onto the street, first I see is this:

It happens to be the entrance to a garage, the gate is locked, it is Sunday.

I cannot imagine colours being used like that in Switzerland. But I might be wrong. For abroad I often see people, places and things with different eyes.

This happens to be the façade of the adjacent building.

It is a totally unremarkable shot, I know. And askew. So why do I put it here? Because I cannot take my eyes off the trees reflected in the windows. I was not aware of them when taking the pic, I discovered them only afterwards.

And this, I think, should make it perfectly clear that corrugated iron is not just corrugated iron. The Santa Cruz version presents itself most definitely much more joyful than, say, the grey European version. Which is one of the reasons I like it here.

Brasilien. Eine Kulturgeschichte

"Wir halten es nicht mit Stefan Zweigs Bemerkung, der sagte: 'Nichts ist so sehr typisch für den Brasilianer, als dass er ein geschichtsloser Mensch oder zum mindesten einer mit einer kurzen Geschichte ist.' Im Gegenteil, 515 Jahre sind eine lange Geschichte", schreiben Ursula Prutsch und Enrique Rodrigues-Moura im Vorwort zu "Brasilien. Eine Kulturgeschichte". Und sie halten fest: "Wir wissen, dass Brasilien vor 1498 nicht geschichtslos war; doch würden wir uns mit der Geschichte davor auf ein Terrain begeben, für dessen Analyse uns die Kompetenzen fehlen."

Mit anderen Worten: Um die kulturelle Vielschichtigkeit Brasiliens von 1498 bis 2013 beurteilen zu können. halten sich die beiden für kompetent. Und das sind sie nach gängiger Auffassung durchaus. Ursula Prutsch (Prof. Dr.) und Enrique Rodrigues-Moura (Prof. Dr.) haben lange Jahre darüber geforscht und publiziert.

Ich selber finde Stefan Zweigs Bemerkung sehr befreiend. Endlich mal ein Land, deren Menschen nicht andauernd mit Hinweisen auf Geschichte, Traditionen, Kultur etc. gegängelt und an der kurzen Leine gehalten werden. Dass Zweig das Land, "in Anbetracht der acht Monate, die er dort verbrachte, wenig kannte" und deswegen für die beiden Autoren nicht so recht qualifiziert scheint, sich dazu zu äussern, halte ich für einen Irrtum. Die Lebenserfahrung lehrt, dass je länger man sich mit einem Land befasst, je weniger man davon versteht.

Dass Menschen, die Geschichte lehren, das anders sehen und anders sehen müssen (argumentiert nicht jeder und jede letztendlich für den Erhalt und die Wichtigkeit seines Fachs/Jobs und Einkommens?), versteht sich. Und wenn dabei ein Werk entsteht, das auch "den Avantgarden in Wissenschaft, Kunst und Kultur Rechnung" trägt, wie es im Vorwort heisst, ist das nur zu begrüssen.

Da mich Wissenschaft und Kultur mehr interessieren als Politik und Ökonomie, gehe ich die Lektüre einigermassen erwartungsfroh an, bin dann aber recht schnell ziemlich ernüchtert, denn "das Kulturelle" erschöpft sich häufig im reinen Aufzählen und wird etwas arg summarisch abgehandelt. So heisst es etwa über Clarice Lispector, sie verorte "ihre introspektiven Texte hauptsächlich in urbanen Welten. Anspielungsreich werden die Wahrnehmungen der äusseren Welt aus der Person des Ich-Erzählers gestaltet, in vieldeutiger Weise." So korrekt und richtig das sein mag, nichtssagender geht es kaum.

Die Fülle an Informationen, die die beiden Autoren vorlegen, ist beeindruckend. Das geht vom Goldrausch in Minas Gerais um 1700 zur Abschaffung der Sklaverei im Jahre 1888, vom Einfluss der Telenovelas zu den Indio-Welten und der Ressource Natur, speziell im Amazonasraum. Und und und ...

"Brasilien. Eine Kulturgeschichte" ist vor allem eine eindrückliche Fleissarbeit, eine spannende Lektüre ist das Buch nicht. Interessante Aufklärung und (jedenfalls mich) immer wieder verblüffende Details liefern die beiden Autoren gleichwohl. Und nicht zuwenig. Etwa, dass Brasilien 1917 als einziges Land Lateinamerikas dem Deutschen Reich den Krieg erklärte. Oder, dass während des Zweiten Weltkrieges Japaner (auf Betreiben der Amerikaner) und Deutsche (darunter der spätere Autor und Kulturvermittler Curt Meyer-Clason) interniert wurden. Oder, dass Henry Kissinger informell beim brasilianischen Aussenminister vorstellig wurde, weil die New York Cosmos Pelé unter Vertrag nehmen wollten.

Des Weiteren erfährt man, dass im Juli 1819 Schweizer Bauern und Handwerker die ersten waren, "die das riskante Experiment der Brasilienwanderung wagten." Und dass Manaus um 1900 mehr Theater als Rio de Janeiro hatte und Christoph Schlingensief im dortigen "Teatro Amazonas im Rahmen des Festivals Amazonas de Opera den 'Fliegenden Holländer' von Richard Wagner als fantasmagorisches Gesamtkunstwerk mit einer Menge von Brasilien-Klischees, um sie nicht alle zu brechen" (was auch immer das heissen mag) inszenierte.

Eines der langlebigen Klischees ist die "Rassendemokratie", die Überzeugung vom "konfliktfreien Schmelztiegel indianischer, afrikanischer und europäischer Elemente", halten die beiden Autoren zu Recht für einen Mythos. Weil es sie, bedenkt man, wie der Menscfh nun einmal ist, wohl gar nicht geben kann. Aber auch deswegen, weil Demokratie (das beste Argument dagegen, so Churchill, sei ein fünfminütiges Gespräch mit einem Durchschnittswähler) als Ideal und als Praxis allüberall weit auseinanderklaffen. Doch das ist eine andere Geschichte ...

"Brasilien. Eine Kulturgeschichte" bietet ganz viel solide Information der traditionellen Art, in der etwa einzelnen Politikern ein Einfluss beziehungsweise eine Macht zugeschrieben wird, die Männer und Frauen in politischen Ämtern schlicht nicht haben können, denn gegen die mächtigen bürokratischen Einrichtungen kommen auch noch so fähige Einzelne kaum an. Schmunzeln machten mich etwa Formulierungen wie diese, die Universitätslehrern eine Bedeutung geben, die sie im akademischen Leben haben mögen, aber eben höchstens da: "Cardoso bezeichnete Brasilien zu Recht viel mehr als ungerechtes denn als unterentwickeltes Land. Als Soziologe, der bei Florestan Fernandes studiert hatte, wusste er genau, wie sehr sozialer Aufstieg und Hautfarbe miteinander verknüpft sind." Für solche Erkenntnissse braucht man nicht Soziologie studiert zu haben, sie sind jedem klar.

Ursula Prutsch / Enrique Rodrigues-Moura
Brasilien. Eine Kulturgeschichte
Transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2013

War Is Beautiful

It is not often that one comes across a photo book cover that is meant to be read. In fact, among the many photo books that have passed through my hands I do not recall a single one that provided, next to the praise of some well known people, a brief introduction. The one by David Shields starts with: "Yes, of course, from Homer to Matthew Brady to Robert Capa, war photographers have aestheticized war, but nothing prepared me for the hundreds of full-color pictures that appeared on the front page of the New York Times from the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 until now."

Well, to rank Homer among war photographers I do find a bit far-fetched but, obviously, what David Shields deplores is the aestheticisation of war and the subtitle of his "War Is Beautiful" sums his view up succinctly: "The New York Times Pictorial Guide to Armed Conflict."

Shields reviewed The New York Times front pages from the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 until the present. What he found was that "the governing ethos was unmistakably one that glamorized war and the sacrifices made in the service of war."

I must admit that I do not find this in the least astonishing for newspapers are primarily meant to entertain and not to educate us. And, above all, they should be profitable. In other words, nobody would want to be confronted with pictures of war atrocities over breakfast. Such newspapers simply wouldn't sell, I imagine newspaper owners to argue behind closed doors.

That major news organisations such as The New York Times "and the U.S. government use each other to instantiate their own authority" doesn't come as a surprise either: newspapers owners are pillors of society and not primarily given to challenging inquiry.

Nevertheless ... 

For the full review, see http://www.fstopmagazine.com/