路易十四將成「Louis 14」？法博物館簡化文字挨轟

路易十四將成「Louis 14」？法博物館簡化文字挨轟

法國首都巴黎的卡納瓦雷博物館（Carnavalet Museum）經過四年裝修，近日正準備重新開放，同時也跟上羅浮宮的腳步，將館內許多羅馬數字換成阿拉伯數字，卻引發媒體批評，還指「太陽王」路易十四會從「Louis XIV」變成「Louis 14」。

泰晤士報報導，卡納瓦雷博物館認為現代多數訪客對羅馬數字感到困惑，才會以「普遍可及」（universal accessibility）為由，著手限制館內使用羅馬數字，並改換成阿拉伯數字。

報導指畫廊文字介紹提到君王時，仍然採用羅馬數字，但提及第幾世紀則改用阿拉伯數字，相關變革將觸及路易十四騎馬像與路易十六最後旨意等部分主要館藏的介紹。

但「純粹主義者」擔心，全館「普遍可及」標示使用阿拉伯數字描述君王與世紀，像費加洛報稱路易十四變成「Louis 14」或亨利四世變成「Henri 4」實在「戳眼」（pricks the eyes）。藝術論壇報（La Tribune de l’Art）網站批評，「這個博物館顯示它們鄙視文化與未來的訪客，推測他們教育程度不足以看懂（羅馬數字）」，更有法媒指義大利多家媒體對此表達抗議。

卡納瓦雷博物館訪客服務主管吉拉爾（Noémie Giard）指出，換用阿拉伯數字是館方整體簡化文字與標示的計畫之一，「我們對羅馬數字完全沒意見，但它們可能變成理解的障礙。我們都注意到，少有畫廊訪客會讀文字，特別是太長的時候，他們傾向從一個展品跳到另一個展品後隨便看看。我們也常見到家長打算為小孩讀解釋」。

拉丁語學家兼作者蓋拉德（Jacques Gaillard）批評，「我們已受到美國影響20年了，美國人不懂怎麼讀羅馬數字。古文化被打敗到謹慎撤退，知識被殲滅了」。但費加洛報對此表達質疑，指洛基系列電影標題都用羅馬數字，「席維斯．史特龍…不是巴黎人真是羞恥」。

Crowdfunding campaign for reissue of The Notebooks and Drawings of Louis I. Kahn enters the homestretch

A laboriously produced reissue of the long-out-of-print The Notebooks and Drawings of Louis I. Kahn published by the Brooklyn-based Designers & Books has just under two weeks to reach its crowdfunding goal of $124,000.

As of writing, supporters have pledged $70,592 to back a 96-page facsimile reproduction of the book , which is accompanied by an expansive Reader’s Guide featuring additional photos, rare archival material, original essays, and tributes to the late, great Philadelphia-based architect, educator, and critic. If the Kickstarter-based campaign, which launched on February 17 and finishes March 31, reaches its goal, the new edition and Reader’s Guide will go into production over the summer and be released in November of this year.

Created by the then-25-year-old Kahn protégée Richard Saul Wurman in collaboration with printer Eugene Feldman, The Notebooks and Drawings of Louis I. Kahn was first published by Falcon Press in 1962 with a print run of 1,800 copies. In 1973, MIT Press published a second edition with a print run of 3,000 copies. It features a four-page introduction that takes the form of a handwritten letter from Kahn to Wurman and Feldman. The 2021 edition is an exact reproduction of the 1973 edition, which can also be viewed in full online.

Wurman, now 85, served as a key collaborator on this latest edition and penned an essay for the roughly 120-page Reader’s Guide. Joining the essay by Wurman (the architect, designer, and author is perhaps best known as the creator of TED), are new writings from, among others: William Whitaker, curator and collections manager of the Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania, including the Louis I. Kahn Collection; Jonathan Salk, the youngest son of Jonas Salk, the famed virologist and founder of the Kahn-designed Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego; Kahn’s three children, painter Alexandra Tyng, flutist Sue Ann Kahn, and award-winning documentary filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn, and architecture critic Paul Goldberger, who wrote Kahn’s March 20, 1974, New York Times obituary after the architect passed away at 73 after a heart attack at Penn Station in New York City.

Born as Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky in present-day Estonia in February 1901, Kahn immigrated to the United States with his family as a young child. In 1935, he established his Philadelphia architectural practice and, somewhat late in his career, designed a slew of late-modernist buildings known for their poeticism and striking monumentality. They include the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut (1951–1953); the First Unitarian Church in Rochester, New York (1959–1969); the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad in Ahmedabad, India (1962–1974); Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban in Dhaka, Bangladesh (1961–1982); the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas (1967–1972), and San Diego’s Salk Institute (1959–1965).

In addition to the essays, images, and archival material, tributes from past recipients of the Louis I. Kahn Award—David Adjaye, Norman Foster, Tadao Ando, Steven Holl, Jeanne Gang, Denise Scott Brown, Frank Gehry, and Moshe Safdie among them—are also included in the Reader’s Guide.

As for The Notebooks and Drawings of Louis I. Kahn itself, the book contains 76 drawings divided into two sections. The first section is comprised of sketches, mainly of buildings Kahn observed on his international travels, reproduced at actual size. The second is populated by early sketches and completed renderings depicting many of Kahn’s most famous buildings. Throughout the book, Wurman, acting as editor, included the text of transcribed and unpublished speeches penned by Kahn in the early 1960s as well as other writings. The exact reproduction also includes the four-page introduction/letter included in the 1973 edition.

“I didn’t choose what were considered his best, most finished drawings,” Wurman explained in a press release for the project. “I chose those that spoke to me—much in the same way that Lou would say you had a conversation with the building. . . the drawings that told me what they were trying to be.”

In addition to Wurman, the full Louis I. Kahn Facsimile Project team includes Nathaniel Kahn; Designers & Books editor-in-chief Steve Kroeter and executive editor Stephanie Salomon; Whitaker along with Heather Isbell Schumacher and Allison Rose Olsen of the Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania, Weitzman School of Design; Larry Korman, current owner of the Kahn-designed Steven and Toby Korman House in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, and project creative director Jenn Shore.

Backers of the project will receive both the third edition of The Notebooks and Drawings of Louis I. Kahn and the Reader’s Guide for pledges starting at $79 with larger pledges fetching multiple copies of the book and Reader’s Guide, private virtual tours of Kahn-designed buildings, and more.

Louis Foster returns to Euroformula with full-time CryptoTower seat

Louis Foster will race full-time in Euroformula this year with CryptoTower Racing Team after his winning 2020 debut with Double R Racing.

At the British team he spent a season each in British Formula 4 and BRDC British Formula 3, which resulted in nine wins, nine poles and third in the points in both series. He then joined Double R for Euroformula’s 2020 Spa-Francorchamps round.

Foster took a surprise win on his second start that led to him entering the Barcelona season finale and bagging another podium. Over the winter he tested for Double R and then Motopark and its offshoot CryptoTower in Euroformula’s Dallara 320.

“I am really excited about racing Euroformula with CryptoTower Racing Team,” said Foster.

“I have learnt a great deal in British F4 and BRDC British F3 and in particular I would like to thank Double R for everything they have done for me over the last two years.”

Motopark has a technical partnership with the Japanese-owned CryptoTower squad, which ran Yifei Ye to the 2020 title. It was formed to provide seats for drivers after Motopark hit the limit on how many drivers it could sign to its main team.

“I’m ready for this next step in my career and I can’t wait to start working with Motopark in preparation for the season ahead,” added Foster.

“It will be a challenge going to so many new circuits but I am looking forward to driving the Dallara 320 again and see what we can achieve together this season.”

Motopark team principal Timo Rumpfkeil pointed to Foster’s starring Euroformula debut as bringing the Brit to his attention before winter testing began.

“We are very happy to have Louis driving for CryptoTower Racing Team in 2021,” Rumpfkeil said.

“His performance in Spa 2020 has obviously caught our attention big time.

“We were able to perform a series of very productive tests in winter last year with Louis. I am sure that he will be a very strong contender for the 2021 Euroformula championship and we are looking forward to equal our 2020 successes with Louis at the wheel.”

Foster, who is also a race-winner in the MRF Challenge, is the second driver to confirm his participation in the upcoming Euroformula season after Double R Racing signing Zdenek Chovanec.