When the Level of the Architecture Discussion Resembles the Level of the Political Discussion

"Like everything, architectural history and theory have been radically realigned by the internet and digital culture," writes Matt Shaw in a provocative editorial for The Architect's Newspaper. "The result is that bad ideas can come to be front and center in the architectural discussion very easily due to metrics and algorithms."

"What passes for 'radical,' 'idea,' 'theory,' and 'concept' today is becoming eroded as quickly as our political discourse," Shaw adds.

Shaw isn't afraid to call out specific examples—taking not only the designers to task, but the journalists who gave prominent coverage to ideas like a skyscraper hanging upside down from an asteroid. Each one is a "pointless exercise in mediocre conceptual architecture that looks good on the internet and keeps content producers busy," writes Shaw.