don't know if he'd like you calling him as[s]-lop ;) .......alsop

As somebody who went to school in one of his buildings, I can safely say that there have been fake stucco boxes that I've enjoyed more.

'What the fuck' factor isn't a premise for quality, it's a premise for showmanship and little else.

well, i'm not at all a fan of the wtf factor or alsop's architecture in general, but i will say that alsop's use of animation has always been very inspirational to me. no one can explain a project better through moving images.

Most of Alsop's animations are done by his son's firm, can't remember the name...Not much use. Had a lecture and workshop with them, which was quite interesting - focused on 'selling' architecture through presentation.

I was looking forward to his Lecture at LTU (and the panel discussion on wed. night at MOCA-d) all year, but as luck would have it, I was stuck in Washington for work on wed. and at Dulles last night...but then again, i was having drinks looking at a Saarinen design...so i guess there was something architectural in it for me...

hope to hear more about the lecture...he certainly seems to be a character....

He's a showman if I've ever seen one, no doubt.

My school was looking for proposals for a new building, with a few specific restrictions (under 4 stories, etc....)

Alsop shows up and presents three ideas. The first two totally obliterate any of the restrictions - one building he proposed was 23 stories, if I remember correctly. Big, beautiful, magazine buildings. He wowed the selection panel with those two buildings, but the restrictions still needed to be in place.

All casually, Alsop pulls out one last shit-box of a design that meets the requirements, and voila, that's what gets built. Our selection team literally bought into the image he presented, and not the building. And it shows. (It's the OCAD building in Toronto, if anybody cares)

sorry about the typo. alsop...

well. i can honestly say i hated the ocad building even since ive seen it. but i was intrested in it. im not saying its my style. but at least it dosnt look like everything else.

hes influenced by people, and art. most architects now adays are only influenced by 2 things. 1 money, 2 what their client thinks is nice

now i really feel its refreshing to see someone with some more influences. not just someone who bends over backwards to please a tight budget or whatever their client fancies

i like that too, shaner. i hope ltu can bring in more practitioners like alsop. often i feel like architecture in detroit, both from the schools and the offices, is too much about budgets, schedules, and the bottom line and not enough about architecture (why we all got started down this road in the first place!). alsop offers an antidote to that (and wouldn't you know it, his office is profitable too!).

(and simples, now maybe it's just me, but i'd much prefer drinks at the dulles to an alsop lecture.)

jafidler...lots of beers...hair of the dog too...good clients, who could hold their liquor...but i was ready to get back home///

slantsix...OCAD is definitely a design by a showman, but i wouldn't call it a shit-box design...



i am becoming more and more of a cynic, so i liked it...

for the record, Will Alsop's office was not profitable. it went under. it collapsed in 2006, when a few major projects stalled. the way out was for Will Alsop and what remained of his team to be bought out by SMC, to become SMC Alsop.

not that this should be assumed to imply that this was the fault of the architecture - more the state of the economy and bad luck with a few particular project. same thing happened to OMA during the 90's.

thanks, dlb, way to burst my bubble;)

Personally i have always liked the OCAD building. Although i never had to go to school there..