The Year's Top Architecture Controversies

From protests over the change of leadership at Princeton University's School of Architecture, to conservative critics of a presidential memorial, to the scores of Brutalist buildings under threat of demolition, Architizer has assembled the "Top 10 Architecture Controversies Of 2012."

A sample from this year's hall of shame:

Copycats:

"In October,  Pharrell Williams and  architect Chad Oppenheim released drawings for their  ”Ice Cream City,” a new urban fun center in Miami’s rundown Overtown neighborhood. But one of Ice Cream City’s buildings — a large box housing a Target — looked a little too familiar: specifically,  like  Jakob+MacFarlane‘s Orange Cube in Lyon, France.  Both designs were  bright orange, had a web-like scrim, and featured a large hole cut from one corner. Oops!"

Criticism:

"Philip Nobel loves a controversy. The critic’s latest attention-getting act, a massive takedown of the “starchitect,” published in Metropolis. Nobel lambasted everyone from Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid to Daniel Libeskind and Morphosis’s Thom Mayne. But his biggest target: Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Nobel devoted 720 words to the High Line architects, whose work he  described as 'sloppy, pretentious, derivative.' Meeee-ow."

Crybabies:

"Zaha Hadid‘s splashy natatorium got a lot of flack when the Guardian reported that the Aquatics Center’s bulging ceiling would prevent many ticket-holders from seeing the 10-meter diving events, resulting in possibly thousands of refunded tickets...It wasn’t the starchitect’s first gripe with the London Olympics: Apparently,  the committee hadn’t invited her to any of the events, including the opening and closing ceremonies."