Posted by Richard Haut on February 01, 2002 at 09:49:15:In Reply to: Re: Critique of the Super Stars posted by Paul Malo on February 01, 2002 at 06:46:51:
a fascinating article - but it contains a mistake.the implication is that it is the "Star architects" who come blundering into cities where they may not be familiar with the local culture and build something foreign.
the truth of course is that the majority of such culture-squashing and inapproriate work is undertaken by architects with flat feet - the corporate architects.
an art gallery, an opera house, a parliament, an airport - these are all singular buildings with distinctive intentions. it may be important that they are appropriate, but they also should be distinctive.
the clients often choose from a limited range because they are the ones that they have heard of. that is not the fault of the architects - but of the media and, above all, the architectural media.
it is however a short-lived phenomenon. new talent does come through because the work of individual architects changes, others appear, trends and types of buildings change. the "Bilbao effect" should not be attacked - it is a great compliment to architecture. the fact that other cities wish to imitate it is also unsurprising - however few have the courage (e.g. Cardiff and Zaha's Opera House).
architects should distinguish between soundbite fame, responded to with soundbite projects (back to the eyecandy novelty toys of London) and serious attempts to find the best people.
if a town or city wishes to produce a building of distinction which can reflect the status of the location, then why shouldn't they want what they perceive as 'the best' ? sometimes - as in the case of the Lloyd's Buildings - hundreds of architects were considered before the final shortlist (from across the world) was selected.
for the clients, there may be some lack of knowledge about who else to choose, but when architects do the same thing, there may be just the tiniest touch of envy - or is that a trick of the light ?
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