First published in Graz Architektur Magazin 03, Ästhetische Oppositionen etc. reprints Knut Birkholz critique on the representation of power in building and OMA's justifications for such project. PDF >
Horrible article, full of one-liners and the typical default, stock criticism of China usually reserved for the arms-length reporting and information-gathering tactics of most Western journalists reporting on China these days. Save yourself the read, article plods along the following trajectory: "China is bad. People are oppressed. CCTV is the state mechanism that oppresses people. Koolhaas designed CCTV. Koolhaas is bad."
While I am not the biggest fan of Koolhaas, and I do have my uncomfortable spaces with regard to certain policies of the Chinese government, I must say that the architectural community deserves a more sound, and less shrill, investigation into the shifting landscape in China than such a polarized, prosaic diatribe.
lol - everyone may read it to make up his own mind. and what else could the trajectory be, in such cases? and many details in this text are fairly interesting, connecting the current situation to historical and or metaphorical aspects. "sound investigation" / haha. this is one of the problems today, that polarization is still needed in architectural criticism, while remaining misusable for "sensations".
Feb 27, 08 8:27 am ·
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3 Comments
excellent article.
Horrible article, full of one-liners and the typical default, stock criticism of China usually reserved for the arms-length reporting and information-gathering tactics of most Western journalists reporting on China these days. Save yourself the read, article plods along the following trajectory: "China is bad. People are oppressed. CCTV is the state mechanism that oppresses people. Koolhaas designed CCTV. Koolhaas is bad."
While I am not the biggest fan of Koolhaas, and I do have my uncomfortable spaces with regard to certain policies of the Chinese government, I must say that the architectural community deserves a more sound, and less shrill, investigation into the shifting landscape in China than such a polarized, prosaic diatribe.
lol - everyone may read it to make up his own mind. and what else could the trajectory be, in such cases? and many details in this text are fairly interesting, connecting the current situation to historical and or metaphorical aspects. "sound investigation" / haha. this is one of the problems today, that polarization is still needed in architectural criticism, while remaining misusable for "sensations".
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