Starchitects: is this the ultimatedream? Where do I want to go in my career in architecture?
A necessary evil? Is it an inevitable result of globalization?
Are we (as architects) constantlystriving to create something truly original?
I have mixed feelings about theso-called “star” system in which architecture has evolved into inmy generation. Someone not formally educated in architecture wouldmost likely say that the works of major starchitects are impressiveand that I should some day want to strive to produce works like that.To those versed in the world of architecture, this system is somewhatlooked down upon. This could be due to many things. Starchitecture(for the most part) is primarily designed with the goal of producingan iconographic (signature) aesthetic. If form is the driving forceof design, many other factors (such as site, social, historicalcontexts, etc..) are disregarded. In Witold Rybcynski's The BilbaoEffect, he says, “greatarchitecture carries many messages, about society and individuals,about our values and our dreams. It should have more to say to usthan 'look at me'.”
The star system ispromoted by the media. Never has society been more connected thanright now. We live in a society of commodity and spectacle. Commoditypromotes desensitization and laziness. Television, radio, magazines,billboards, and the internet are constantly blasting us with “thenext big thing.” Rarely do we truly find satisfaction; this hastranslated and is exemplified with the star system. As unauthentic asthese architects may look, there is a lot of good that comes out ofbeing a starchitect. For one thing, architecture is promoted. Likethey say in Hollywood, any publicity is good publicity. Architectureis slowly starting to creep into the realm of “cool” and “hip;”what the intellectuals should strive to know more about. The funnything about it is that “cool” is often temporary. In my studioclass, I read an essay called How Architecture Stopped being the97-Pound Weakling and Became Cool by Sylvia Lavin. She statesthat “coolness is the product of a slippery relation between anobject, its use, its mode of production, and its mode of reception. Acool person can make an uncool object cool, but an uncool person mayor may not be cooled up by a cool object.” To become a “cool”starchitect, one must find the right fit of a project that not onlygets the attention of many, but be able to pull it off with just theright combination of innovation and spectacle. Coolness istimeliness; timelessness, on the other hand, is not always cool buttends to outlive most any trend. Hadid's fluid curves certainly havespectacular look (especially in photographs), but how is theexperience in person? Is it much like when you realize Santa Claus isjust another old fat guy in a big red suit? Architecture is createdto be experienced, lived, worked, and played in-- not viewed likeartwork.
I do believe thestar system will continue to live on—only because of the waysociety is fascinated to put things on a 90 second display. When yousee something flash across the news, do you have a full understand ofthe thing happening with that event? Probably not. Architecture is aworld of contradictions, and to most people, they do not care todelve into the things we are interested in talking about. Take theessay written by Anne Choi. Here is a pretty accurate description ofsomeone who honestly could care less about the things we do. It's notthat she's a bad person, she's just being brutally honest in herletter. Put yourself in her position, where you spend all of yourtime with a group of people, that only hang out with others that arelike them, speak their own jargon, and surround themselves with thatone thing. Sounds to me like a pretty intense clique. I understandwhere she is coming from, and the ignorance of people like her thatfuel the fire for the star system. For as long as people don't reallycare to delve into architecture for more than just its surface,people will always be fascinated with formal aesthetics, and nothingelse.
A necessary evil? Is it an inevitable result of globalization?
Are we (as architects) constantlystriving to create something truly original?
I have mixed feelings about theso-called “star” system in which architecture has evolved into inmy generation. Someone not formally educated in architecture wouldmost likely say that the works of major starchitects are impressiveand that I should some day want to strive to produce works like that.To those versed in the world of architecture, this system is somewhatlooked down upon. This could be due to many things. Starchitecture(for the most part) is primarily designed with the goal of producingan iconographic (signature) aesthetic. If form is the driving forceof design, many other factors (such as site, social, historicalcontexts, etc..) are disregarded. In Witold Rybcynski's The BilbaoEffect, he says, “greatarchitecture carries many messages, about society and individuals,about our values and our dreams. It should have more to say to usthan 'look at me'.”
The star system ispromoted by the media. Never has society been more connected thanright now. We live in a society of commodity and spectacle. Commoditypromotes desensitization and laziness. Television, radio, magazines,billboards, and the internet are constantly blasting us with “thenext big thing.” Rarely do we truly find satisfaction; this hastranslated and is exemplified with the star system. As unauthentic asthese architects may look, there is a lot of good that comes out ofbeing a starchitect. For one thing, architecture is promoted. Likethey say in Hollywood, any publicity is good publicity. Architectureis slowly starting to creep into the realm of “cool” and “hip;”what the intellectuals should strive to know more about. The funnything about it is that “cool” is often temporary. In my studioclass, I read an essay called How Architecture Stopped being the97-Pound Weakling and Became Cool by Sylvia Lavin. She statesthat “coolness is the product of a slippery relation between anobject, its use, its mode of production, and its mode of reception. Acool person can make an uncool object cool, but an uncool person mayor may not be cooled up by a cool object.” To become a “cool”starchitect, one must find the right fit of a project that not onlygets the attention of many, but be able to pull it off with just theright combination of innovation and spectacle. Coolness istimeliness; timelessness, on the other hand, is not always cool buttends to outlive most any trend. Hadid's fluid curves certainly havespectacular look (especially in photographs), but how is theexperience in person? Is it much like when you realize Santa Claus isjust another old fat guy in a big red suit? Architecture is createdto be experienced, lived, worked, and played in-- not viewed likeartwork.
I do believe thestar system will continue to live on—only because of the waysociety is fascinated to put things on a 90 second display. When yousee something flash across the news, do you have a full understand ofthe thing happening with that event? Probably not. Architecture is aworld of contradictions, and to most people, they do not care todelve into the things we are interested in talking about. Take theessay written by Anne Choi. Here is a pretty accurate description ofsomeone who honestly could care less about the things we do. It's notthat she's a bad person, she's just being brutally honest in herletter. Put yourself in her position, where you spend all of yourtime with a group of people, that only hang out with others that arelike them, speak their own jargon, and surround themselves with thatone thing. Sounds to me like a pretty intense clique. I understandwhere she is coming from, and the ignorance of people like her thatfuel the fire for the star system. For as long as people don't reallycare to delve into architecture for more than just its surface,people will always be fascinated with formal aesthetics, and nothingelse.
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