A HOUSE FOR J. S. BACH

We are sure no architecture school in the world would ask its students to have their projects inscribed, at the beginning, with the initials "J.J." and at the end, with the initials "S.D.G."

Nor is there any contract document, today, that starts and ends similarly.

Yet, perhaps they should.

Both of them.

After all, this is how Bach inscribed his musical compositions. J.J. stands for "Jesu Juva" (Jesus, help me!), while S.D.G. stands for "Soli Deo Gloria" (Glory to God alone!)

But we live in "liberated" times, when, according to the scientist (Einstein included), God does not exist.

Fortunately, we do have some artists, very few indeed, mere "dinosaurs" like Ingmar Bergman, for example, who used the very same inscription, sometimes, at the end of his scripts: S.D.G. - For the glory of God!

Let us make an experiment!

Let's try to celebrate 325 years since Bach's birthday and 260 years since his death through the attempt to conceive A HOUSE FOR J. S. BACH, as inspired and inspiring as his own music!

We think no other musician is so close to architecture, potentially, as Johann Sebastian Bach. His name was also invoked in the recent work by Zaha Hadid, a good work, but one that we do not truly think is specifically connected with, or inspired by, Bach's music. Her work, while brilliant, could have served other references as well, none better, perhaps, than her own very name... since, as someone said, there is more "Zaha" in this work, than "Bach..." Nevertheless, it is a good work and we must applaud it as such.

But to return to Johann Sebastian Bach...

We invite you now  to a "BACH Charette," between March 31st (Bach's birth) and July 28th (Bach's death).

Louis Kahn wrote:

Spirit in will to express

can make the great sun seem small

The sun is

Thus the Universe

Did we need Bach

Bach is

Thus music is

Did we need Boullee

Did we need Ledoux

Boullee is

Ledoux is

Thus architecture is

Let us see if we cannot replace, above, the names of the two neoclassical French architects, with our own names.

Let's pray that our God (not necessarily the one whose initial is "J") will be auspicious and that at the end of our work / project, we could proudly and humbly at the same time inscribe, the way Bach and Bergman did, S.D.G.: To God alone the Glory!