The beauty of the speed - Canadian Center of Architecture

The exhibition at the Canadian Center for Architecture in Montreal (20 May to 12 October 2009) on the subject of the speed is particularly well presented and we can even see a link with the new Star Trek movie.

Speed is a question of perception and it is often a mirage of the moment! One might add that the more quickly things go in one reality, the more slowly it is in another one...

A scene from Star Trek is particularly explanatory of speed. While the enemy spaceship go through a magnetic wall and then wait his opponent for 25 years, on the other side of the wall, the spaceship of the opponent live the same moment in a time frame of a few minutes only before joining the enemy. Time is perception is never the same for everyone!

The exhibition at the Canadian Center for Architecture does not explain the value of the speed versus slowness or neither give us all the possible definitions of speed but rather, it propose a profound reflection. When observing the demolition of skyscrapers that have been in their time the symbols of speed, we understand that nothing lasts and that the speed of today will be the slowness of tomorrow. The images of working spaces who were at the cutting edge and are now totally abandoned is another striking example of the speed becoming symbols of the slow. The last room of the exhibition shows athletes who are trying to exceed their speed limits. Does their success mean that they live more than the one who a slow? Does the person who take his time to cross the street lives less than the one who runs ? Visitors to the exhibition cannot fail to extend their thinking about the speed according to their own experiences. For this reason, the event is a success.

Personally my conclusion to the visit at the Canadian Center of Architecture is the famous Italian proverb: "Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano" Slowly but surely ... Enjoy your visit!

Bernard Bujold

www.LeStudio1.com

www.cca.qc.ca

Link to Star Trek

Picture 1: Exhibition Speed Limits (CCA)

Picture 2: Voyagers (Star Trek)

Pictures 3 et 4: Exhibition Speed Limits (CCA)