Archinect - News

An anonymous architect comments on the need for ‘degrowth’ in detailed manifesto

2022-08-15T09:00:00-04:00

Environmentalist blog Treehugger has published an exchange between the author of an anonymous new Twitter manifesto that outlines in 25 points the need to combat the capitalistic notion that endless growth is the only option for modern industrial societies. Patrik Schumacher and others are mentioned as examples of the industry’s bad side, with groups like Architects Declare and thinkers such as Tim Jackson, Jason Hickel, and Open City director Phineas Harper being cited as the clarions of a movement the latter says is more or less inevitable.

"We use 'degrowth' because, as architects, we sometimes get to control the consumption spigot a bit," shares the author and architect, who wished to remain anonymous during their conversation with Lloyd Alter of Treehugger. "Someday architects may be called upon, first and foremost, to make spatial interventions that create value for society and for future generations—more like caretakers or repairmen, and less as heroic form-givers who functio...

Form followed finance in 2021, for better and for worse

2021-12-25T09:00:00-05:00

2021 was a year where form continued to follow finance. Throughout the year, our coverage included many examples of the world’s largest architecture firms designing for some of the world’s largest companies. From sleek corporate headquarters to “work-and-play” tech campuses, such projects take on an added significance when searching for clues on the future of work and offices post-pandemic.

However, as we followed the money this year, we also took time to reflect on what lies in its wake. What are the social ramifications of large tech companies landing space-age campuses on areas already creaking from a lack of affordable housing? What does the growing proliferation of Amazon fulfillment centers mean for traditional retail typologies? What are the human consequences of placing the governance of civic space in private hands?

To further explore this point, we have rounded up the highlights of our 2021 coverage on the intersection between architecture and corporatism — for better and...

McMansion Hell's Kate Wagner dissects issues with big tech and the 'blurred line' between private and public space

2021-03-11T19:35:00-05:00

In February, Amazon announced its latest design for a $2.5 billion headquarters in Arlington, "the Helix." Once visual renderings for the campus were released, the architecture community was quick to respond. Besides heavy criticism of its overall design, discussion regarding its surrounding public space was soon questioned. Architecture critic Kate Wagner addresses the long-rivaled issues between big tech corporate campuses and their intentionality behind fostering a so-called "engaged environment" with public space.

Her article in The New Republic, "How Big Tech Devours Public Space, " assesses large tech companies like Amazon and their double-sided plans to create spaces available for public use. She explains, "Amazon is presenting the Helix as a companion structure to 'the Spheres,' the indoor gardens at its Seattle headquarters. But as a space of consumption and leisure, the Helix actually resembles a lot of classic starchitecture. It is a towering, glass-clad, tree-dotted baub...

Doomsday bunkers are coming back in a big way

2019-08-16T19:00:00-04:00

Americans have, for generations, prepared themselves for society’s collapse. They built fallout shelters during the Cold War and basement supply caches ahead of Y2K. But in recent years, personalized disaster prep has grown into a multimillion-dollar business, fueled by a seemingly endless stream of new and revamped threats, from climate change to terrorism, cyberattacks and civil unrest.

Patrik Schumacher calls for a 'capitalist revolution' to fix housing

2018-05-15T15:06:00-04:00

Housing is one of our most essential and cherished commodities. It is rightly one of our biggest markets, but unfortunately one of the most politicised, suffocating under quasi-socialist political interventionism. The loss of prosperity in our whole society is enormous. Not only because of poor housing provision, but because of its stifling impact on all economic activities. That’s why the need for a capitalist revolution is so urgent.

It's been a bit quiet around Zaha Hadid Architects principal and outspoken free-market evangelist Patrik Schumacher since his last big public statement calling for the elimination of social housing caused an overwhelming backlash, but now he's back with a new commentary piece on how to fix housing via privatization and deregulation, published in The Guardian.

Is the architecture in 'Blade Runner 2049' really Brutalist?

2017-12-05T14:32:00-05:00

This fall Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner 2049 was released as the long awaited sequel to the original 1982 film, and has since sparked much conversation around the film's architecture. There is no denying that Blade Runner 2049's construction was considerably influenced by Brutalist forms, but is the architecture really Brutalism?

Cinematographer Roger Deakins looked to London's Brutalist architecture to create his film, and director Denis Villeneuve said he wanted the "Brutalist feel" with severe concrete design.

'Blade Runner 2049' trailer still.

While serving as inspiration to the filmmakers, Brutalism's core philosophy does not align with Blade Runner 2049 and its architecture. The extremely capitalist society and unpopulated scenes found within the film contradict the original socialist intentions of Brutalist architects whose focus was on material rawness and honesty in order to create the ideal form of dwelling.

'Blade Runner 2049' trailer still.

Read the full essay by Alice Sw...

Housing crises aren't random — they're the product of our political system

2016-10-04T13:18:00-04:00

Housing is under attack today. It is caught within a number of simultaneous social conflicts. Most immediately, there is a conflict between housing as lived, social space and housing as an instrument for profit-making — a conflict between housing as home and as real estate. More broadly, housing is the subject of contestation between different ideologies, economic interests, & political projects. More broadly still, the housing crisis stems from the inequalities and antagonisms of class society.

For more on the housing crises gripping almost every major city in the world, follow these links:

How Havana tries to come out of its crumbling shell without betraying Cuba's revolutionary roots

2016-04-25T19:26:00-04:00

I’m on a walking tour with two dozen international architects and urban designers, as we imagine a theoretical future for Havana. The walk is part of a charrette—an exercise that gives professionals and community members a voice on urban development when there is no formal mechanism to do so, as has been the case in crumbling Havana. [...] As the Cuban government slowly loosens restrictions on private enterprise, one wonders if the gentrification of Havana is inevitable.

How neoliberalism is changing us (for the worse)

2016-04-21T12:50:00-04:00

We tend to perceive our identities as stable and largely separate from outside forces. But over decades of research and therapeutic practice, I have become convinced that economic change is having a profound effect not only on our values but also on our personalities. Thirty years of neoliberalism, free-market forces and privatisation have taken their toll, as relentless pressure to achieve has become normative.

"If you’re reading this sceptically, I put this simple statement to you: meritocratic neoliberalism favours certain personality traits and penalises others."

In this op-ed, Paul Verhaeghe asserts that neoliberalism has weakened social ties and pitted workers against one another in a constant struggle to become "successful." In the process, we've started to develop personality traits that resemble a checklist of psychopathy characteristics.

Neoliberalism's effects aren't confined to the workplace, but rather extend into the urban fabric. Read more:

Selling Cuba (Gehry's already there)

2016-02-01T14:16:00-05:00

“I give it two years, max [...] It will be US business interests that finally push congress into lifting the embargo – they’re all going crazy being shut out of this market.” American architects and developers are already queuing up to be first in line, ready to pounce on investment opportunities when the embargo drops. Frank Gehry sailed into Havana in December, aboard a streamlined yacht he designed for himself, here to “offer his expertise to Cuba” according to a government statement.

“You know that Cuba is at the centre of attention of many people,” Gehry told the gathered crowd. “And in the immediate future it will attract many investors – particularly the tourism sector. But I am sure that you know to be careful with those projects.”

One CEO's plan to supply water to drought-stricken CA cities, and obviously profit from it

2016-01-20T15:14:00-05:00

Scott Slater has a plan. It is not a popular plan, but he wants to pump 814bn gallons of water from under the Mojave desert to Los Angeles and other drought-stricken communities in southern California, and make more than $2bn doing so...In addition to environmental concerns, others object to a private company being able to make billions from water. Slater says they do not understand the law, which in California states no entity can own water but they can buy, sell and trade the right to use it.

America: The land where nothing is free, indeed.

h/t New Republic

Dismaland, Banksy's anti-capitalist art show, gave host town a £20M boost in tourism

2015-09-28T14:25:00-04:00

Over the past five weeks, more than 150,000 people have visited the subversive theme park in a derelict seafront lido, which had been shut since 2000 and reopened in a blaze of publicity on 20 August. [...] But, it is the town's tourist businesses that have reaped the benefit - to the tune of £20m, says Visit Somerset, more than three times what the trade body initially suggested. [...] Everyone has noted the irony of the anti-capitalist art show boosting business.

Previously: Banksy about to open "Dismaland" pop-up exhibition in British seaside resort

Major international companies to set targets to switch to renewable energy

2015-09-23T18:36:00-04:00

Some of the world’s most prominent companies are expected to set a long-term target on Wednesday of powering their operations entirely with renewable energy, the latest in a wave of commitments suggesting that corporations are becoming more serious about battling global warming. In addition, backers of a campaign to divest from fossil fuels announced Tuesday that investment managers controlling assets of $2.6 trillion had joined their effort...

The Times article considers this a clear sign that the fossil fuel divestment campaign has "spread far beyond its modest origins on American college campuses."

On Wednesday, nine major companies are set to join a coalition committed to making the switch to renewable energy, including Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, Walmart and Goldman Sachs.

The news comes as Pope Francis is on a historic tour of the United States, continuing his appeal for a robust and united effort to mitigate global warming. In November, the leaders of the world's nations will meet in Paris to attempt (for yet another time) to create a real and substantial climate agreement.

Istanbul’s introverted megaspaces

2015-06-18T23:42:00-04:00

A new typology of XL-architecture is emerging in Istanbul, negating the urban context. These ‘Citadels-on-Steroids’ rapidly encroach on the city’s urban fabric. [...] This might very well be the future of all cities. As city walls and state boundaries erode under late capitalism, the walls are only rebuilt at a smaller scale to maintain immunity from the chaos outside.

Alicia Eler's ode to Jon Jerde and the mall as "part of the American experience"

2015-02-23T13:49:00-05:00

I love the mall as much as I love the urban walking experience, museums and movie theaters. Today the stripmall is not just a part of my everyday life in Los Angeles [...] it is also a memory from my own suburban adolescence growing up in Illinois. Jon Jerde, the LA architect both celebrated and loathed for his role in spreading shopping malls across US suburbia, died this month. Some might scoff at his life’s achievement. I am not one of them.

Previously: Jon Jerde, founder and chairman of The Jerde Partnership, has died

Regarding "Architecture and Capitalism" and Design as a Political Act

2013-11-12T13:06:00-05:00

When I said that all design is a political act, I meant it both as a statement and as a question to provoke further discussion. Why is it important to state such a seemingly obvious point? Because architecture is not often discussed that way, especially in academia or in practice. I often go to reviews where students and faculty only discuss the formal aspects of projects, ignoring all social and political conditions produced by or enabling the work. - Quilian Riano

Last week, Ross Wolfe attended Architecture and/or Capitalism an event hosted by Storefront for Art and Architecture's Architecture and posted a review over at Quaderns. Mr. Wolfe, was particularly taken aback by Quilian Riano's statement that "all architecture is political”. He also found the discussion wildly uneven and concluded "
What was more unsettling, in all probability, was the tacit recognition that the present impasse of architecture".