Quote:
Originally Posted by Baz
What happened to architecture?
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God, I totally agree.
The values of a society are expressed in its architecture. No question. And I don't mean the monumental type buildings but the vernacular ones - where people actually live their lives (homes, shops, workplaces, schools, etc.). Ours is clearly about cheapness and phony veneers. It's about creating an illusion of importance for everyone - gestures traditionally reserved for conveying wealth and grandeur without the underlying cost that has traditionally given those sorts of expressive gestures their value and "wow" factor. When every Tom Dick and Harry can "afford" (really get a crummy loan for) a mansion, is there anything special about mansions anymore? Not really.
As an architect myself I am really saddened to see how our profession is so undervalued now - relegated to specific niches because our society at large doesn't value good design anymore - just what's fast, cheap and disposable - and bigger and brasher than one's neighbors. I'm thankful I work for a developer now and can at least impart some architectural expression into my projects via the power of the purse (we have the money so we set the standards). If I didn't, the designers would have no incentive to deliver anything but more of the same old crap. They've become afraid to be bold and to push themselves. They all default to playing it safe, lest they exceed a budget by $1 or run afoul of some stupid bureaucratic rule or code requirement.
In my heart I wish the "good old days" were still around when architects were respected and deemed to have value - and had some latitude to actually design expressive and beautiful spaces. Everything now seems comparatively so dumbed-down and the "design" process is all about code compliance (Christ almighty it's gotten frikkin ridiculous what the codes are mandating these days...) and budgets and kissing contractors' asses in the interest of preserving their schedules and lining their pockets...
I wish we were different and a society that valued beauty, permanence, quality and all the rest but we increasingly just don't. So much is cookie-cutter crap and it's because people just don't demand any different. It's sad really - certainly not how I'd like to see it, but as I said above - what we build and leave behind tells the story. It's brutally honest about us and our values. It memorializes what we demand, which is a direct reflection of those values.
There's still a market out there for good design (just as there's a market for good art and music) but for every person that appreciates such things there are 50 others who are content to live in a sterile, engineered plastic box and watch American Idol and eat their crappy nutritionless, flavorless processed crap from the nearby drive-through night after night. I hate to sound like an Apple fanboy but I think a perfect example is the iPhone versus the Galaxy. The iPhone is a beautiful product - wonderfully presented and incorporating really thoughtful industrial design. Then along comes Samsung who says "hey, ours is bigger - and it's cheap!" And the masses flock to it as a result. Telling, no? I know there's more to that particular story and I'm being a little simplistic but it's a convenient example of how idiotically short-sighted people are and how quick they are to sacrifice design and quality standards on the altar of cheapness image / appearance in order to flaunt fad status symbols and feel important.
Sad what we've become. Truly.