Extra Extra won’t focus on memes but try to illustrate problems through them. To that end, the looser conditions of a column allow for visible cracks in my positions. Unanswered questions are welcomed. Criticisms formed on a mimetic hunch can be built up. Nothing here is too polished, neither is it expected to be.
As architecture culture breaks into architecture cultures, let's explore the fissures. Tomorrow, we begin together the construction of a constituency.
There may be no better subject to discuss architecture being extra than Kanye West visiting SCI-Arc in April of 2018. The pairing of the two was news to our community yet not altogether surprising. (Kanye visited the GSD by invitation in 2013) What really grabbed headlines was who he met with: young conservative personalities Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens. The group chose to meet at SCI-Arc to check out the Spring Show, a publically-accessible showcase of outstanding student work. The trio received a short tour from some students, walked around for a little bit and then left. Not a big deal, yet, the media coverage of this event sparked widespread interest since it was such an interesting cast of characters to the general public and an esoteric institutional choice to the architecture community.
The moment I heard about the visit I took it upon myself to investigate. By speaking directly to directly to students, I uncovered a lot of the nitty-gritty. I can’t reveal all the specifics, yet the most shocking thing I discovered was that there was a strong feeling among many people in the greater architecture community who expressed disappointment in SCI-Arc for even letting the three inside the building. I can’t imagine a more problematic reactionary attitude. Regardless, the details of this visit, the specific work he tweeted about, etc. are not really of consequence. Neither are the greater political ramifications since the trio is already disbanded; Kanye says he wants out of politics, and has somewhat mellowed the headline-grabbing shenanigans after the launch of his album — surprised?
While this story is ripe for a good conspiracy theory, SCI-Arc represented little more than an on-brand location to meet up. The school is located in the arts district of central Los Angeles and as such there are celebrities in the neighborhood all the time and the Spring Show is there for anyone to attend. It would be a nice place to smooth over what I can assume was a bumpy conversation — the three were relatively unacquainted before the meeting. Besides, Kanye meeting with conservative pundits was the main story, not the location. Plus, the institutional message expressed by SCI-Arc is not directly tethered to a particular political ideology — only to a system of values and a core mission of inclusion and experimentation.
What I have come to believe attracted Kanye to the school is what might attract anyone to it in 2019 — style and big ideas. These two things, along with instilling an insatiable desire to produce them, are what makes the school such an intense institution. His interest is ultimately genuine, but so far the results are superficial. The meeting became an advertisement for the eventual rollout of a development company called Yeezy Home that plans to work on low-income housing in order to make the world better. What that means exactly is yet to be seen, but we should encourage the use of architecture as a tool to construct new inclusive realities.
What we should be interested in is the role architecture played in the strategy of this publicity stunt. This meeting was essentially advertising, so through some analysis we should be able to distill the definition of architecture from the perspective of the broader public and it’s current political contenders.
This is to say that Kanye and his team don’t make news by accident. His public image is armed to the teeth with influencers and trend forecasters, and architecture schools are places where big ideas are constantly proffered. Through this analysis we should be able to feel rather positive about the results.
Many architects will feel that last point isn’t befitting the material and metaphysical aims of architecture. If that is the case, I would ask you to consider that for a vast part of the American public this exact story is the most they’ve heard from our discipline in years other than the occasional sublime Instagram photo or newsworthy technological oddity. Through this piece of celebrity marketing our discipline is being spoken for. Could we be so naive as to think otherwise?
Ryan Scavnicky is the founder of Extra Office. The practice investigates architecture’s relationship to contemporary culture, aesthetics, and media to seek new agencies for critical practice. He studied at L'Ecole Speciale d'Architecture in Paris and DAAP in Cincinnati for his Masters of ...
35 Comments
SIMPLY SAID THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO LOOK AT THE SUBJECT.....AND THEY MAY ALL BE RIGHT.
ANTHONY ARAIZA, ASSOCIATE NARKWEATHER ARCHITECTS
The overlap of architecture and culture is a great subject, and fraught with lots of disagreement and potential for too much trendy jargon.
Question: when was there ever a single "architecture culture"? The activities and participants in architectural practice, education, criticism, and preservation (to name a few) each have a particular and defined sub-culture-- and have for at least a few generations. Is there some convergence? Of course. But spend ten minutes with some folks in any of these groups and you'll quickly discover many differences.
In general, the only people that even know what sciarc is are other architects, so I don't really see how this so called PR stunt could have any reach. Maybe it was a success to create buzz within this community...but unfortunately that isn't where the money for development comes from, which I assume is the end goal of any successful marketing effort.
It should also be said that a hack is a hack (not that kanye is even designing anything)...and internally people know. Brad Pitt is a classic dilettante...rich hobbyist which cultivates no respect or hold any real knowledge.
Students were disappointed they even let him in the building? Laughable...that is why you are paying 200k to go there...spectacle, fame, eccentric weirdos, drama, and the like.
"What I have come to believe attracted Kanye to the school is what might attract anyone to it in 2019 — style and big ideas."
What "attracted" Kanye was the PR opportunity. He and his dipshit bimbo are walking brand advertisements supported by a massive PR machine. More PR = more sales. Period.
"we should encourage the use of architecture as a tool to construct new inclusive realities."
Architecture is not a cure for social problems and won't be until we stop serving the 1%. And that's not going to happen at any scale until the reward system (economic) is reversed.
How do you “reverse” it? Dictatorship or mind control?
This highly important investigative journalism, "I can’t reveal all the specifics"!!
Kanye is trying to stay edgy, and now that the pearl clutches are leftists, mowhawks and makeup no longer have the same effect as say a maga hat. As someone said “the dominant culture cannot be the counterculture.” The younger generation will rebel against this current pc sjw culture and likely embrace what they perceive as its opposite. Culture is cyclical, and the counterculture will tend towards extremes, which is always bad, but also always necessary, left or right. Architecture is influenced by culture more than it influences culture imo. This is because other forms of art and culture are faster and cheaper. Architecture is the old guy that’s always late to the party.
Trends are fluctuations in a longer story. Architecture must concern itself with that longer story, and stay in a state above trends.
"I can’t imagine a more problematic reactionary attitude"
i'ma lay it out 4 u: a lot of people stand to lose from fringe conservative reactionary politics. many of those people go to sci arc. so yes, charlie kirk and candice owens can fuck right off, and whine about it in their conservative media safe spaces.
What do they stand to lose?
lol
Insulating a school from people with different ideas...sounds like they have more to lose from that kind of anti-intellectual attitude than from engaging in meaningful debate. This is what happens when politics becomes a religion I guess.
And then both sides get pushed further into the fringes...we have plenty to lose from far left politics as well...ask the 100 million + corpses from the 20th century.
And this insulation that’s happening in academia is pushing ideology into very scary and dumb places. These kids never have their ideas challenged...they become incapable of defending their ideas with logic and reason...in the name of pursuing truth, they should embrace the process of debate rather than create a safe space cult of conformity.
"anti intellectual" "different ideas"
charley kirk and candace owens care about hot takes and generating outrage, not about ideas or intellectual practices. i would expect a screaming toddler to be kept out of a gallery space, so keeping those two out isn't a deviation from the norm. logic and reason are nowhere to be found in the alt right crowd, so yes, take out the garbage (or just don't let it in to begin with)
Logic and reason are nowhere to be found in the far left crowd either. Should we not let them in?
we aren't talking about the far left crowd
'they do it too' is what a child says when they get caught, and like with children, that excuse won't work here, either.
kids kids.. I like this...you've funneled emotional discontents into politics and imagined it applied to architecture. What I see here is jla-x works in the "real world" and Dangermouse is either a totally stoic Plato-nium dude in the "real world" (you work like UPS delivery packages but have an education of an engineer or senator) or Dangermouse has been fully subsumed by the religious cult of academia, the Lefts Oasis cult....kids what the fuck you arguing about? Architecture is static? I don't get it. Scav is eating you for breakfast.
danger? jla-x? kids? where is the self-esteem? do you believe your thoughts are better than an INSTAGRAM of thoughts?
....surely, it must be vetted and curated? do you have low self-esteem?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abrn8aVQ76Q
The more you suffer the more you really care. Soicialism?
“we aren't talking about the far left crowd“ Lol. This is because the left does define where “far” begins. I’m pretty sure the threshold for far-right has been moved closer to the center, where even people like Ben Shapiro get labeled as “far-right”, where the threshold for far-left has moved to somewhere between Kim Jung Un and Pol pot. Are you seriously not aware of the leftist politics that have taken over academia? Safe spaces, identity politics, gender obsession, micro aggressions, banning speakers, shouting down professors, etc etc etc. Look up Johnathan Hiaghts “the coddling of the American mind”. It perfectly illustrates the pathology of leftism on campus and the toll it’s having on education.
'they do it too' is what a child says when they get caught, and like with children, that excuse won't work here, either.“. Actually, when you isolate ideologies from outside influences they tend towards the extremes. See North Korea. This is because debate often exposes inconsistencies, lack of understanding, etc. Both sides get checked. Very simple.
turning point usa and campus watch, which charlie kirk runs, exist solely to ban speakers and fire / deny tenure to professors. it's literally a conservative safe space for white identity politics with 'thinkers' who are obsessed about gender and micro aggressions against poor, oppressed white conservative men.
you're trotting out all these straw men to defend a guy who does exactly what you are pretending to be against. the fact that you are unable or unwilling to see the obvious and naked contradiction is highly amusing.
also lol at this boomer raving about god knows what. it astounds me that people can go their entire lives without being able to form a single coherent sentence.
I could care less about turning point, Kirk, owens....Kanye is cool, and a cultural icon whether you like him or not. My problem is this safe space mentality. If they do it too, shame on them. I don’t know much about turning point, and don’t care much. “Safe space” is an asinine and dangerous concept, especially in a university. The pursuit of truth requires the defense of ideas. Without that, it’s basically nothing but a bunch of people jerking each other off and reinforcing each other’s nonsense. Weak ideas that never get checked never evolve. It sound like you think Left is always right and Right is always wrong. If that’s your take, I can see why you seem to think that there is no need for debate. That’s not an intellectual position, it’s a religious one. Far left and far right politics alone are disastrous always. The stability is in the quarrel, the constant tug of war that equalize closer to a center. This is why western civilization works. Removing contrary perspectives from any circle allows the pathology’s to fester. Like a crazy person who only hangs out with other crazy people. Or a criminal in a prison with other prisoners.
'they do it too' is what a child says when they get caught, and like with children, that excuse won't work here, either.“. Also, you accuse me of this, and then do the exact same thing in the next post by stating how turning point “does it too”. lol.
jla-x won this argument, unbelievable the left has become so stupid. oh yeah, you thought rosanne was not left? (see rosanne vs jimmy kimmel on the left)
This is the second Extra Extra article I've read, and I couldn't have imagined the writing and thesis could get any worse than the last.
Is Archinect just trolling us now? Honest question. Because this 'writing' is pure nonsense, and I feel dumber for having read it.
At least all expectations are openly relegated to the basement. (See the prologue.)
As a Post-Internet Post Modernist I am disappointed by the cerebral overly left leaning types here, probably serious academic scholars?
1) When did Kanye West drop-out of Sci-Arc? Is this fake new? (i googled it - College Drop-out, I still can't figure out where he went to school...)
2) Dangermouse and jla-x your discussion is interesting.
When you take a "fringe" position you stand to lose something, which is the respect of the main stream society. If you have integrity when taking a "fringe" position you really don't care...Technically. Of course you might be promoting something, like an album (Scav at least you understand that).
2.1) Any good rich urban developer knows to follow the artists who live on the "fringes" - starving artists outside of mainstream affording only the basic warehouse in middle of nowhere doing their "fringe" art. So like at one point dude, some like architects made Sci-Arc, a cool edgy sounding acronym/abbreviation for an architecture school. So just like Soho in NYC at some point it was raw and legit. But eventually Sci-Arc "trended" out of the "fringe" and into what I would call "main stream fringe" and like Soho in NYC is now upper class playground for the elite (essentially).
As Chigurh writes "Students were disappointed they even let him in the building? Laughable...that is why you are paying 200k to go there...spectacle, fame, eccentric weirdos, drama, and the like. " If you're rich and pretend to be into socialism and say "its not about the money", you are only in this position because of capitalism and money, so in short its called "repentance". So the students that were disappointed probably felt like their "repentance" for being elite was being destroyed and this is what they would lose by such "fringe" conservatives hanging out looking at their "main stream fringe" work...or they were just hanging out using Sci-Arc as a conversation piece. Scav you are very rational.
3) "This highly important investigative journalism" - Like 60 minutes? The supposed creator of the Cable News narrative, trending critique makes money. It's a shame architecture is so slow.
Agree.
Watching this stupid women’s march on tv...it dawned on me...
1970-2010: people with colored hair getting censored by conservatives. 2010-2019: people with colored hair trying to censor conservatives (+liberal who don’t perfectly agree with them 100%). At some point colored hair went from counterculture to fringe mainstream. Hmmm.
basically i'm here to point out the obvious.
Scav is cool,
you kids are dumb because you want to really believe something as fast as politics could be associated with architecture? (Lebbeus woods did this so much differently btw)
Mussolini, a far left Italian, made a deal with a more far left German, a Nationalist Socialist, is AOC one? (it's a joke, relax, no one cares)
Mussolini architecture as per Eisenman and other dudes who talk out their ass...is like modern with Traditionalism, etc...
I bet this one is confusing for architects? It's like modern and traditional and like liberal and conservative at the same time.
Save your breath, architecture is space, time, and light - politics and religion are bullshit.
make some forms and spaces and let the monkees figure it out. Monkees are humans who believe in their delusions (that means all Trump Haters and Lovers...those who don't care are sane).
Your belief that Mussolini and Hitler were far left socialists is a testament to the poor quality of your education in the subjects of history and political science.
***OFFTOPIC WARNING* don't read the rest if you're here for Kanye news.
"Mussolini Architecture" is not a real thing.
Mussolini was famously "not interested in art" and would continuously split official party support between multiple groups in order to keep artists on their toes, always trying to score a win with the Duce.
It has even been argued that "Fascist architecture" is not a useful label, as it encompasses too many different and sometimes opposing movements. Italian modernists tend to fall into two main factions, defined by either a progressive or a reactionary attitude toward history. However, most of them seemed to agree that it is important to somehow address history, especially in the context of Italian society and culture.
"Margherita Sarfatti-endorsed architecture" could possibly be more accurate description for the architecture sponsored by the Italian Fascist state in the 20s, though if we can agree to call a spade a spade we should call it by their chosen moniker - Novocento. It was essentially a neo-classical approach, in contrast to the industrial romanticism of the Futurists or the abstraction of the Rationalists.
Later Mussolini had to distance himself from Sarfatti on account of her Jewish roots being a bit of an issue for the Nazis, and as her influence on 'party style' waned tastes generally shifted toward a conservative modernism, exemplified and promoted by Marcello Piacentini.
Piacentini was very active as a planner and architect in Rome in the 30s, and was at the head of the EUR district development. Guiseppe Pagano was also on the planning team to represent 'the progressives'.
The Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana (aka the Square Colloseum) was designed as a centerpiece for the district, and specifically intended to reference the Colloseum. What do you find confusing about the idea that Fascists wanted to associate their achievements with the 'glory days' of Ancient Rome in order to legitimize their power? Are you confused about how this task is achieved in this building's design?
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