The film My Architect is quite good. A documentary by his only son, Nathanial, it examines the life and works of one of the great architects of the last century. All the classics are covered; the Salk Insitute, The Kimbell Art Museum, The Richards Building, The Trenton Bathhouse, the Capital of Bangladesh and so on. The buidings, however are only half the story { ! } as it is explained that Louis Kahn had some questionable person to person social interactions, the types of interactions that led to him having a couple of illegitimate children, one of which happens to be our narrator, Nathanial Kahn. And so the film traces its way around relationships and buildings following them to their inevitable conclusion in a toilet cubicle, Penn Station, New York.

None of this will come as much of a surprise; we all know his architecture, we know his scars dude. What we don’t expect, what we could never foresee, is that the film will feature a scene of Kahn’s son rollerblading around the Salk Institute to the soundtrack of some mournful country and western song. And it is not as though he is having a quick rollerblade around, shredding some pavement, grinding some handrails, no, he is ,like, doing languid figures of eight, hands behind his back looking for all the world like he is about to launch into a graceful triple lutz.

I am absolutely certain that Louis found the gesture both heartwarming and appropriate.

In response, I have compiled a list both real and imagined of inappropriate acts commited in/on great works of architecture. Events that have actually occurred are in bold.

• - Roller blading around the Salk Institute with some crap country song as background music.
• - The Motor Cross leg of X-Games held on the lawns of Asplund’s Cemetery.
• - Parasitic Richard Goodwin sculptures pretty much anywhere.
• - The Australian Idol finale at the Sydney Opera House, with Guy Sebastian taking top honours.
• - Skinny dipping in the pool at the Adelphi Hotel, Melbourne.
• - Playing Putt Putt Golf in the courtyard of Scarpa’s Querini-Stampalia Museum.
• - Snogging a lifesize cardboard cutout of Hillary Clinton at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple.