It didn’t take very long either.
(S6:E10) – When you think of something that doesn’t take very long, a lot of things come to mind; like walking your dog, mailing a letter or even brushing your teeth. The last thing you’d think of is designing a building (a commercial one at that). I would imagine it taking years of planning, with revisions, regulations and bureaucratic red tape. When George made the claim that he is an architect and designed a building in Manhattan that didn’t take very long, you have to wonder what he was thinking? On top of lying about being an architect, why would he add speed as a factor? What led him to blurt out that statement? I think George fell under the spell that almost of us encounter at one time or another. Usually, it happens at our 20th high school reunion. You want to show everyone that you are successful, that you made it. You tell people you own a fortune 500 company. Maybe you have a child going to med school or that you married a super model. Okay, maybe not all of us do it to that extreme but people like George can’t help themselves.
George had one of those situations. He was supposed to conveniently and accidentally meet up with Jerry, their mutual friend from Kennedy High School (Duncan) and Jerry’s latest main squeeze, Lois). Instead of initially talking about the infamous high school race that Jerry was rumored to have cheated in, George goes off on a tangent and starts talking about himself (all false, of course), with such things as:
He likes to read – Not,
He is an architect – Nope,
He was 28 when he made his first million – Nadda,
He has a driver outside of Monk’s, waiting for him – No siree.
The topper was when Lois (now thinking he was an architect) asked if he designed any buildings in New York and George then asked her if she saw the new addition to the Guggenheim. She was amazed at the thought and said “You designed that?” He said “Yep, Yep,” then goes a step further to say “…it didn’t take very long either”. As if being the designer of the museum’s addition wasn’t enough, he had to mention the speed at which it took him to design.
Reality Check: For everyone interested, the addition to the Guggenheim was designed by Gwathmey, Siegel & Associates. The design process started in the early 80’s and wasn’t approved until 1988. I don’t know what “very long” means in George world but over five years in everyone else’s mind is one long dog walking.
It was kind of fitting that the rage this week among the clan was about Communism and George was touting Capitalism (and self-glorification) in his cavalcade of lies. Coincidentally, Frank Lloyd Wright’s philosophy, (the architect for the original Guggenheim Museum) is grounded in Transcendentalism, that’s rooted in Individualism, Idealism and Nature (organic architecture). That’s right, I like to try and connect things that most likely have no relevance to each other. Just thought I’d share. Check out Wright’s website (https://flwright.org/)
Assignment: If you ever get the chance to visit the Guggenheim Museum, I would love to see a photo of you outside the annex building on 89th St with a note or something indicating this building was not designed by George Costanza. Maybe I will post the best ones here.
