Posted by  JWmHarmon on February 01, 2002 at 11:03:39:

In Reply to:  Re: Critique of the Super Stars posted by Richard Haut on February 01, 2002 at 09:49:15:

Sometimes the work of an architect is villified by those who have an agenda, or who are rejected by the selection committee, or by the self-appointed architectural critic (and everyone can be an architectural critic). In some instances the work is later venerated as a great work of "art-chitecture."

Examples:
Gothic Cathedrals were so named as a derisive term referring to the "Visi-Goths" who were invaders and "barbarians." We had perfectly good Romanesque buildings before the invention of the "Gothic Style," some elements of which were derived from "Arab architecture."

The Sydney Opera house was once described and ridiculed as "turtles mating on the shore." It is now touted as the symbol of cultural advancement in Australia.

The World Trade Center in New York was referred to derisively as a "two finger salute" to the rest of the world.

Frank Gehry works have been described as "great metal 'blobs' devouring the cityscape. "The Blob" was a 1950's b-grade horror movie about a giant organism devouring the city.

Frank Lloyd Wright ridiculed the "guillotine windows" (double hung sashes) and used casement windows. He also ridiculed the Victorian "boxes cut up into ever smaller boxes." He had the "Prarie Style" to sell. Now we honor the "Painted Ladies" - the grand Victorian houses and try to preserve them.

Each age has its adherants to the traditional. Each age has its rebels who ridicule the past and try to "sell" their "modern architecture" in the name of "progress."

"The more things change, the more they stay the same." - French saying

"All the world's a stage and all the people actors." - Shakespeare
The play is the same from age to age. The actors live and die and then new actors take over the old roles.

"And so it goes." - ? female news anchor

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