Buildings Are Heavy

Shively, Kim

Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

Buildings Are Heavy Public Deposited

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/1z40kv32r

Abstract

The title of my thesis film, Buildings Are Heavy came from my friend Ricky Willis. While wandering the streets of Chicago one day with Ricky he declared, "buildings are heavy". Ricky is an artist and also a walking encyclopedia of the architectural history of Chicago. He can tell you where all of the gas stations in the city are or were (since the 1960s). He knows the history of the different types of streetlights used throughout the city. He is obsessed with buildings and with transportation, all of which are reflected in his art. Ricky spent part of his youth in Stateway Gardens, one of Chicago's notorious public housing projects on the south side of the city. The most profound statements are the simplest ones. Ricky's declaration contained so many layers of meaning and the more I thought about it, its heaviness grew on me. While in the process of making this film I recalled Ricky's words and it naturally made sense to use them as the title. Buildings, spaces, structures are literally heavy. They are built to withstand all sorts of stress from weather to weight. They are built to shelter people and things. The statement can also be construed as an emotional one - buildings are sites of many events in our lives. They can inspire us or inhibit us; their architecture and where they are located within a city often dictate how the space is used. Buildings can segregate populations or they can bring diverse groups together. They are also historic in and of themselves. Buildings and how they are constructed are the physical embodiment of our societal values. It's been said that it's the people who make the place and not the other way around but I believe it's a complicated mixture of people, space, and the varying levels of freedom ( or lack thereof) within an [are] area that make a place unique. My video focuses on four very special spaces in north Denver that are under threat of erasure from the landscape of a rapidly changing city.

Creator

Shively, Kim

Date Issued

2016

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Academic Affiliation