STARchitecture

The architect and his designs as a “spectacle” have destroyed the integrity of reality and made the world of architecture mere iconography.  Star architects are less beholden to certain emotions and values of the design process; frequently their clients don’t dictate requirements for the end product so much as they think “I just want a building by Thom Mayne.” 

How much team work is involved in the production of a design by a star architect?  Is it really the work of only the star architect, run rampant and unchecked by any other architects or consultants of equal standing?  Or is it the result of a team of minions that take care of miniscule details, the product gets stamped with approval from the head-honcho starchitect, and they become famous for what was really just a broad gesture from them?

In lesser firms composed of several architects or designers of equal skill and stature, though they may have their individual projects to work on, the design process has built-in checks and balances not only among the partners, ensuring that one partner hasn’t gone off the deep-end, but with the client as well.  The client can generally afford to be picky, and if the designers aren’t producing above and beyond what the client dreams of, they’re off the project.  If you manage secure Peter Eisenman as a designer, would you tell him he can’t put a giant unsealed hole in your roof if that’s what he wants?

What is the difference between “real” and “appearance?”  Something that’s confused me over the last year is why people are so willing to spend money on the luxury of viewing movies in 3D or buying a 3D television when life is already in 3D?  I accept that movies and television shows are artifice, and I can be engaged without being immersed in it.  American society somehow believes more in the fantastical than the real.  The difference is that the “real” is ultimately more fulfilling, carries more weight and integrity, than illusion. Illusion cannot be experienced beyond the visual, it cannot be questioned with the expectation of receiving answers, and it cannot be deconstructed without being destroyed.

Star architects, having achieved a level of fame or notoriety, no longer have the need to explain themselves. They are allowed to produce designs that aren’t required to hold their water (I’m looking at you, Frank Gehry).  It is undeniable that the star architects have talent and vision, otherwise they couldn’t be in their current positions of prominence.  But I think that in being somewhat of a celebrity and having already proved themselves (like a tenured professor), some might stop holding themselves to the standards that everyone else has to follow.