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At Panos' memorial on November 20,1999 at USC School of Architecture, I spoke these words of remembrance.
Alek Zarifian
Panos Koulermos,
This powerful name, this wonderful human being who meant so much
for so many people, in so many ways.
When Dana called me last week and asked me if I could talk for
Panos, I felt very honored, in fact I had never felt so honored
in my life. But at the same time I felt great sadness and sorrow.
I wished that the occasion had never come about.
I always felt very fortunate to be one of Panos’ students. It
gave me the opportunity to spend so much time with him and enjoy
every moment of it.
Some 20 years ago when I came to USC School of Architecture, one
of my friends, Oshin Saginian, who at the time was in Panos’ studio,
talked to me about this great Professor by the name of Panos Koulermos.
He kept telling me "you have to take his studio Alek, you have
to take his studio. You’ll design buildings that you won’t believe"
he said.
I became very interested and volunteered to help Panos, along
with some other students to put together his first exhibition
in Los Angeles at the Barnsdall Gallery. After a week of working
with Panos one day I told him, “Panos I really enjoy working with
you because I feel that I’m learning.”
This statement held true for the course of the years that we spent
together, and will be true forever. Whether we were working or
not every time I met Panos I learned something new. The more time
I spent with him the more I realized that his teachings were not
only about Architecture but about life itself. After all architecture
is about life.
Panos was a teacher by nature, he was born as a teacher and he
knew how to teach. He loved his students and his students loved
him. They loved to have Panos critic their work, because his criticism
was so profound and to the point. It left you with a feeling of
awe and being illuminated. It excited you to go back and work
harder and come back for more. And yes, by the end of the studio,
we designed buildings that we couldn't believe.
Quite often I thought about Panos and asked myself, “What is it
that makes him so special, so unique?” I found my answer rather
quickly as I thought it was so obvious. One could sense the presence
of this bright and intense light of intelligence and knowledge
which fused with his very Greek passion, made everything about
Panos so enormous. His architecture, his humor, his academic abilities,
his understanding of the Arts and above all his love for life
and living poetically. Even his profile was unique to the one
and only Panos Koulermos.
There will never be another Panos.
Panos, as John Hedjuk put it so beautifully “He loves architecture
and his work proves it.” He always managed to work with such a
joy and humor. He used to say “take your work seriously not yourself”
or “Next to prostitution Architecture is the oldest profession.”
It’s so hard to talk about Panos, because he is so vast, yet it’s
so easy because no matter what you choose to touch upon its always
full of life and excitement.
One of the noble talents that Panos had was his ability to bring
people together. And he brought so many of us together. So many
friendships started with Panos, within his big space, the atmosphere
that he created for us. The reason that we are all here today
is because everyone one of us has a very prominent place in our
hearts for Panos. He gave us so many gifts and they are all priceless.
Piera, let me also thank you for your support both for Panos and
us the students. Very often you invited us to your home where
we shared so many happy times with you, Yorgo and Panos. And you
were also so kind to accept our invitations with great joy and
sincerity. I like you to know that everyone of those moments are
greatly appreciated and will remain in our hearts forever. Please
know that you and Panos were always known among us, as the young
students.
We, the students, have a great responsibility on our shoulders.
We have to make sure that we pass the torch of knowledge and compassion
to the next generation and let the future students see and get
inspired, just the way he did it for us. And we know that it will
take a lot of hard work, a lot of search and research and a lot
of learning about living poetically, remembering that he always
said:
“Never give up, strive for the best and it will pay.”
One of the things about our dear Panos, that never made it to
the books of Architecture, was his love of music. In fact his
only child, his son Yorgo, is a wonderful musician and composer.
Once I had the opportunity to play drums with him and the impression
that he left me was just like his father’s, a brilliant and sensitive
artist. Sometime in the 80’s, as Panos and I were working in his
studio he asked me to play an Armenian song for him. So I went
to my car and came back with a tape of Armenian tunes played by
a reed instrument called Duduk. Duduk was created by Armenians
about 2500 years ago and is known for its most spiritual sound.
When played right it sounds as if it’s a way of communicating
with God. Panos wasn’t a religious man but he was one of the most
spiritual men I have ever met. As soon as he heard the first song
he fell in love with it and couldn’t help talking about the depth
that the music gave him. He immediately asked me to make a duplicate
for him and for years it remained as the memory of the moment
that we shared with each other, listening to that music.
Today I like to play the music once again as words alone can never
tell enough about this great husband, father, brother, friend,
architect, and distinguished Professor Panos Koulermos.
Maestros: Roubik Haroutunian and Henrik Avoian will play, "Through
foreign, deserted roads.
" Only two days ago I found out that the lyrics for this song
characterize a caravan as a man and his journey back to his homeland.
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