La Sapienza

SAPIENCE

Sapience is more active than any action, for it reflects eternal light.

The Book of Sapience.

Sapience enters not into a malicious mind,

and science without conscience destroys the soul.

Francois Rabelais.

He made cities rise from the fields,

towers reach for the skies,

bridges to link lonely banks.

He provided pathways for those moving forward,

work spaces for the industrious,

roofs for those without shelter.

I am proud to present this Golden Cord for lifetime achievement

to Alexandre Schmidt.

Minister,

ladies and gentlemen...

it is a great honor and a pleasure to receive this prestigious award

for a lifetime of work.

My father, also an architect, instilled in me a certain rigor,

and my humanitarian mother

imparted a concern for my fellow man.

I've been asked to build churches.

And once, a synagogue.

I've always refused, for I am a materialist,

and despite my Swiss origins, a true proponent of French secularism.

But I have built' factories,

the cathedrals of the modern age,

for I believe man is self-sufficient

and finds salvation through work.

However, my generation's optimism must be tempered.

Humanity has made great progress,

but we now face serious threats to the environment.

We've lost our bearings.

In the time I have left,

I'd like to blaze new trails,

so that after I'm gone,

architecture may continue to ensure mankind's well-being.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Your speech was very good.

Official speeches are quite particular.

I've had a lot of practice.

Still, it was good.

Thank you for coming, Aliénor.

Of course.

Compared to national averages, residents of Les Zinguettes

have a 37% higher rate of illiteracy,

a 57% higher rate of unemployment

and a 27% higher rate of delinquency.

Nevertheless, they are fortunate.

Our colleague, Alienor Schmidt, has taken an interest in them

and conducted a study of their situation.

As Isabelle just pointed out with the use of statistics,

the residents of Les Zinguettes are clearly at a disadvantage.

But statistics cannot convey their true misery.

Ninety-three percent of these people are in a cultural centrifuge.

Meaning?

They come from another culture and are disconnected from ours.

Their children, raised in a hierarchy of vertical values

with the paternal referent at the summit,

witness daily the humiliation and demasculinization of the father.

The paternal model must be revalued.

In other words, they need a good shot of testosterone!

Despite the undeniable merits of your project, Mr. Schmidt,

merits that saw it win the bid,

the board members present here today and I have agreed

to ask you for several modifications.

First of all, let's not beat around the bush,

there's a value-for-money problem.

We must considerably lower the overall costs

while increasing by at least one third

the number of housing units in our new urban center.

Next -

and this is the only way to resolve the previous problem -

we must totally demolish the old town of Tourelles,

accept the urbanization of the terrain in the surrounding fields,

and fill in the two ponds.

The need for green space, which we unanimously support,

can be respected by adding a garden to the esplanade over the bypass

and balconies with planters to the housing units.

Mr. President...

I understand the specific reasons for your concerns about my project.

But this is the project that won the bid.

We do a lot of demolishing nowadays.

In the past two years,

three of my first housing projects have been flattened.

Replaced, no doubt, by equally inhumane abstractions

generating as much misery as mine did before being flattened in turn.

For the project I've created for you,

I propose we retain the nucleus of the preexisting urban concept -

the town of Tourelles -

and develop it organically.

I also wish to conserve the associated rural elements

as pan of the fabric of the town.

The trail I'm blazing here is as new for me as it is for you,

and I want to follow it.

I stand by what I said.

You have two months, Mr. Schmidt,

to revise your project.

Hi, it's me.

Me, you know! Me, me.

Got the guts to talk to me?

Say something, you wet rag.

Where are your balls?

Spare me your claptrap. I've heard enough.

Yes or no?

Did you fuck her?

Answer me! Yes or no?

Yes or no?

Bastard.

May I come in?

Yes.

I'm leaving tomorrow.

Was it planned?

No.

I thought as much.

I feel a need to write about Borromini.

That's an old project.

Too old.

Where will you go?

Ticino, and Rome.

It'll also be an opportunity to think.

Can I come with you?

I also need to think.

- Are you free? - I could be.

Fine.

We'll fly to Milan,

then rent a car and drive to Switzerland.

It'll be nice.

Yes.

This is Bissone, Borromini's birthplace.

His ghost cannot fail to see the progress of the modern world.

FRANCESCO BORROMINI WAS BORN IN THIS HOUSE - 1599

Can I help you?

My sister gets dizzy spells. Nothing serious.

- Does she need a doctor? - No, we'll go home.

- Do you live in Stresa? - Yes, in the old town.

Try and find a taxi.

Come sit down while we wait.

That's a good idea.

- Is he your husband? - Yes.

My sister's name is Lavinia. I'm Goffredo.

My name is Aliénor.

Lavinia.

It's all right, Mom, just one of my dizzy spells.

This nice couple brought me home in a taxi.

Thank you, signori.

I'll take my daughter to her room.

Goffredo, offer them something to drink.

How long has your sister been ill?

It started when she was very little,

shortly after our father died.

What do the doctors say?

Apparently it's a nervous disorder.

Does she suffer from it constantly?

There are periods of remission.

Then she'll get dizzy or faint,

followed by symptoms of wasting.

Wasting sickness ceased to exist in 1914.

My sister wasn't informed.

Does she go to school?

We tried, but it's impossible.

She has private lessons and takes exams.

She has two years to go before graduating.

And what do you do?

Me?

I just graduated.

So now what?

After summer holidays, I'll go to Venice to study architecture.

My husband is an architect.

Really?

I'm very lucky to have met you then.

I don't see why.

I would be of no more use to you if I were a baker.

My grandfather was a baker before he retired.

I love him more than anyone.

You're up early.

I've been awake for a long time.

Will you go back to bed?

No.

I'm going to Lugano to do some research.

Will you join me?

Today I'd like to visit that girl.

I'll be back late afternoon.

We'll have dinner together.

Yes.

Come in.

Your mother said I could come up.

I'm glad she did. Come in.

Pull up a chair and have a seat.

How are you feeling today?

Still weak, but that's normal.

Normal?

It's always this way for several days after my dizzy spells.

How frequently do you have them?

Generally every two or three months.

But my life accommodates them, more or less.

It really has no choice.

I'd like to speak French.

It's becoming a rare language.