An addiction to spectacle and fad, says Peter Buchanan, has set architecture adrift in a sea of meaningless forms. And real design problems go ignored.
Peter Buchanan criticizes "starchitecture" for being over-whimsical and faddish, lacking responsibility in a world beset by social and environmental upheaval. "Yet from this pluralist smorgasbord nothing appeared that was likely to prove truly satisfying over the long term nor relevant to the increasingly pressing problems we face. Instead it all deteriorated into a quest not for lasting relevance but rather for immediate impact and exciting novelty in dynamically gesturing form [...]"
The article lays into the creations of Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid, claiming the future will view them as follies. "Parametricism cannot become the long-term successor to Modernism because, like nearly all starchitecture, it ignores and exacerbates the urgent challenges of our time, such as the environmental crisis and the need to reintegrate ruptured urban fabric. Instead it is a perfect example of what Marshall McLuhan aptly termed a sunset effect, an exaggerated caricature of now obsolete characteristics of a waning era."
Starchitecture, for Buchanan, is vapid attention-seeking that discredits the field as a whole. "[...] the attention attracted by works like those of Gehry and Hadid impedes the rethinking of architecture that is so desperately overdue. We need to move on from the adolescent search for momentary excitement and spectacle to a more mature architecture of synthesis and subtlety that reveals its understated riches over time."
FULL STORY: Empty gestures: Starchitecture's Swan Song
Draft Los Angeles River Master Plan Revealed
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Tom Brady the Starchitect
New England Patriot's Quarterback Tom Brady, one of the most famous people in the country, said on a radio show recently that he's considering architecture for a post-football career.
'Tulip Tower' Doesn't Clear the Mayor's Desk in London
A 984-foot tower, with an observation deck, shaped like a tulip, won over planners, but not the mayor, in London.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
New York’s Deadliest Neighborhoods for Pedestrians
Pedestrian deaths rose last year, but remain below pre-2020 levels.
Eviction Looms for Low-Income Tenants as Rent Debt Rises
Nonprofit housing operators across the country face almost $10 billion in rent debt.
Brightline West Breaks Ground
The high-speed rail line will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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