Archinect - News

Esther Sperber argues that to end abuse in architecture, stop believing in the creative genius myth

2018-08-07T18:23:00-04:00

But gender bias is not the most dangerous consequence of the lone-wolf image: It is the unspoken permission to abuse that should worry us. For the privilege of working alongside this aggressive and uncompromising genius, we are asked to tolerate his erratic, harsh, and selfish behavior. [...] To fight sexual abuse and abusers, we must first let go of this simplistic and fictitious image of the lone wolf.

In this short opinion piece, Studio ST Architects founder Esther Sperber argues that, in light of the ongoing #MeToo movement, rejecting the prevalent “lone wolf”/creative genius myth and emphasizing a collaborative culture instead are important steps to stopping abuse in architecture.

The Golden Ratio: Relevant or not?

2015-06-01T13:05:00-04:00

It's bullshit. The golden ratio's aesthetic bona fides are an urban legend, a myth, a design unicorn. Many designers don't use it, and if they do, they vastly discount its importance. There's also no science to really back it up. Those who believe the golden ratio is the hidden math behind beauty are falling for a 150-year-old scam.

Do designers ever follow the Golden Ratio? Is it even relevant in architecture? FastCo.Design writer John Brownlee voices his perspective on the old myth.

"What's wrong with the primitive hut?" explores architecture's origins

2014-03-05T17:38:00-05:00

The Bowerbird is named for its very particular mating ritual, where the male constructs an elaborate bower-structure and decorates it with a shrine of colorful objects in order to attract potential mates. Males will spend hours gathering sticks and shiny things to complete their bower, which tend to follow two basic typologies: a tent-like cone of sticks, or two stick-walls in parallel, forming a little avenue. Whether the bowerbird builds the tent or the avenue depends pretty consistently on the species, but once the bowers are bedazzled, the structures become absolutely unique to that particular bird and its surroundings.

It’s not clear whether the bowerbird’s habits predate the first instance of human architecture, but to imagine that an inception point of our architectural history owes itself to a horny bird throws an interesting irreverence into the thought-piece of “what is the origin of architecture?”. Last Monday at the REDCAT theater in downtown Los Angeles, Pier Paolo Tam...