forbes weighs in on architecture
not content just to report on the ups and downs of the stock market, or the fortunes of america's CEOs, forbes decides to name the top 10 "tastemakers" in architecture - according to them " who are most influencing the American landscape." LA, not surprisingly, is heavily represented, with gehry, greg lynn (who bears a striking resemblence to gene shalit), mayne, and meier (who they list as new-york based but I'm going to count him as an angeleno).the one woman on the list is zaha hadid (who seems to be the default female on any list of "great" architects - she provides the double bonus of being not only a woman but also a minority).
posted by marissa @ 7:53 AM
1 Comments:
Very kind of them to inform the rest of the teeming masses who's important and who is not. In the meantime, the bulk of the daily work of actually creating and modifying the real physical fabric of our environment falls on the shoulders of people whose heroic work is rarely, if ever, written about or discussed.
Although I'm an architect doing residential work in Los Angeles, I feel nothing but admiration for the people who make the REAL difference here: the folks taking real risks, showing actual dedication and true commitment to improving the physical fabric of our community--committed and knowledgeable homeowners, sensitive contractors and occasionally-cooperative building officials. These are the people who are really re-making this city, and everyone else is no more than a facilitator or an observer.
Exciting monuments and public showpieces are great, and good for Gehry, Mayne and the rest. They do what they do wonderfully, and they certainly advance the architectural discourse. But what is often forgotten in the discussion is the role played by the texture and fabric of the city as a counterbalance to the glossy monuments. The finely-granular immediate environment in which we all live is just as important, if not more than all the blobs, titanium music halls, and statements of deconstruction piled together.
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