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Roughly three months after the opening of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and the Rockwell Group's cultural venue at Hudson Yards, several media publications and critics have voiced their opinions about The Shed. Having received a variety of reviews, some have shown interest and praise of the space... View full entry
The central disappointment of these spaces is not that they are so narcissistic, but rather that they seem to have such a low view of the people who visit them. Observing a work of art or climbing a mountain actually invites us to create meaning in our lives. But in these spaces, the idea of “interacting” with the world is made so slickly transactional that our role is hugely diminished. Stalking through the colorful hallways of New York’s “experiences,” I felt like a shell of a person. — The New York Times
In this snarky piece, New York Times critic-at-large Amanda Hess recounts what it was like visiting as many of these hyped-up Instagrammable "museums" that have popped up around the U.S. in recent years. “What began as a kicky story idea became a masochistic march through voids of meaning. I... View full entry
I never realised how nostalgic I am, until I started writing. An architect is not supposed to be nostalgic but forward-looking. But I’m nostalgic for a time when mankind was a lot more forward-looking than it is today; for a gradual optimism about the future. That’s the paradox. — Failed Architecture
"In his book Four Walls and a Roof – The Complex Nature of a Simple Profession, Reinier de Graaf paints an honest picture of what it is like to work as an architect today. De Graaf, who is a partner at OMA and director of AMO, the office’s think tank, provides engaging stories about the... View full entry
Modern architecture, during its heyday, was deeply concerned with its civic function; its mission to reform housing and improve the city was a moral imperative. But the failure of this utopian vision has served to...[give] rise to a profession in which its practice is defined increasingly by individual “star” architects and “architecture for architecture’s sake”... — AEI.org
In a piece on the civic benefits of music, literature, and architecture to the public sphere, Rebecca Burgess finds architecture to be somewhat lacking, based on the writings of Michael J. Lewis. Is this a complaint about the good old days in the vein of Prince Charles, or a meaningful critique in... View full entry
The aptly named "McMansionhell" tumblr has taken the time to carefully note just what makes a McMansion an ugly, terrible, no good architectural atrocity. Skipping over frothy diatribe and going straight into meticulous point by point dissection, the tumblr notes that McMansions fail in four key... View full entry
Zaha Hadid is the most famous woman architect in the world. Would women or, indeed, architecture, be better off without her pushily hard-won, global celebrity? [...]
Hadid began a global strut in billowing drapery by Prada or Issey Miyake. She became the champion of an architecture that was more about personal ‘vision’ than public utility. [...]
From the air, Hadid’s 2022 World Cup stadium with its almond-shaped opening and labial folds looks bogglingly like giant pudenda.
— spectator.co.uk
Sure, roasting starchitects is fun, and – at its best – can volley constructive criticism towards those architects most visible in the public eye as "Architects", ideally improving the profession at large. And then there's a piece like The Heckler's, which discredits any otherwise pointed... View full entry
Last month, the University of Southern California's School of Architecture hosted its annual Blue Tape event, an exhibition surveying work from all levels and discipline. The massive show of work from first year bachelors to masters thesis levels is a prime chance for students to see what's been... View full entry
