Yesterday we posted about the influence in architecture of famous actor Brad Pitt. To continue with this Pitt/Architecture debate, listen to this podcast made by Ted Wells, who talks about the popularity of architects thanks to Brad, among other things.
You can listen to the podcast, here.
Thanks to Jason Hebert for sharing the information.
Hilarious!!! Finally somebody put this in perspective!
hell knows what is going on :/
and Brad with a glue gun made me laugh, actually.
Very funny… i tell you this is the pits having such eye kandy to boost some mediocre schemes. it is a shame people in general don’t realise the real price REAL architects have to pay for their careers
Absolute non-sense…So he’s a good looking actor helping out people, PERIOD!!!
i say let the man do what he wants, there is no harm done… just keep in mind that he is an amateur and not a professional
I bet he will join a group of achitects (that actually studies architecture)and build something.. and he will get the credits for all..
why are architects so envy?
Frank this is not about envy, it is the simple fact the profession gets more and more discredited and the reality is a far cry from the Hollywood spin most people get to believe. Architects [partially for no fault of their own]have lost away most of their status and any dick of jones can call him/herself architect without the vaguest notion of what it really takes; and i can assure you it is not all about the spot light and and getting a pat in the back for a job well done. on one hand this type of gimmick probably brings some focus to the profession but on the other,it trivialises what true professionals do not only architects but other consultants. he should stick with his bad acting, he does not need this
Was in NOLA last week. Was given a tour of 9th ward by a New Orleanian. (?) “Make it right” is the joke of native NOLA’s. The 9th ward is GONE except for the few ridiculous B.P. houses (7 I think). There is not a store, gas station, public transport, or neighbor for as far as the eye can see in the 9th ward- but Brad Pitt’s ego is firmly implanted. What a TOOL !
HA
Good luck Brad;
I want to be an Architect and it’s going to take ME 10+ years of work and experience
And a few Oscar-Nominated films doesn’t count as architectural experience.
Why not, if he have a gift he will discover it and make it come true every thing start as a first step.
Good luck brad
what is Architecture Really ? Art ,Science ,Experience or a game for everybody !!!
so, every things of famous people are interesting!!?
star actor with star architect are together for more attention
and it ‘s not important.
well, any kind of creative work is based on responsibility
to create a new paradigm within existing reality and doesn’t matter if it is virtual movie/story or real architecture, both affect the present society
i’m young architect and i wouldn’t be so surprised and prejudiced about the brad’s passion for architecture
mixing proffesions, interdisciplinary influences, unexpected combinations are what we all are looking for
just look at the campanas brothers design masterpieces
one of them is an architect/designer and the other is a lawyer
and their products are full of bright ideas.
hope just that the brad’s case is not the consequence of the starchitecture effect to gain more fame, hope that is really a passion for him, then his work can be really interesting
What is it with architects? Why does it take so long to become one? Its easier to become a surgeon or doctor or dentist. In my honest opinion i believe architects are just felt tip fairies, similar to car designers, who throw their toys out of the pram when they dont get what they want. The problem with these fancy designs is that it takes the engineers to make it a reality. These are the people who need more credit. Look at the millenium bridge in London, famous architect designs it, unkown engineer solves the wobble problem. Aston Martin DB9, glorious deisgn made workable by great engineers, like myself, with limited space within the overall package.
If Brad wants to train to become an architect then so be it, we are all free to follow our dreams. I wanted to become an architect but now feel its full of pretentious wannbes. Sorry, my opinion.
I believe in structural violence. I believe it’s a classic case of structural violence :P
plus, yes, you are looking burning hot with that glue gun but come on now, you totally reminds me of those hot bod air head dudes(good looking but complete idiots) in both architecture school and sports teams back in college years.
and please do NOT, NEVER use glue gun for a final model.
I think what makes architects so irritated by this whole thing is that BP (to my knowledge) has zero architectural training. He is on par with the high-school intern who is “interested” in the profession. And yet, he throws money and fame around (not necessarily a bad thing) for housing competitions but then puts himself on the jury to pick the winning schemes. I’m sorry, but if anybody else pulled that, they’d be laughed out of town – he has no credentials to be a juror.
Despite your harsh words, Tomato, good architects have something very useful to offer and an architectural education is a long and arduous process, which most people don’t realize. Starchitects and Brad Pitts cheapen the profession and lead people to react as you do, discounting the whole lot as “pretentious wannabes.”
“you say potato, i say potato, you say tomato, i say tomato” :)
I partly agree with Tomato, and I already also mentioned in my comment to “Influence in architecture…”, that we all forget WHO helps the stars to become stars, and that none of them would have a chance, if not hundreds of brains, called engineers.
At the same time, Tomato, architect really needs that lasting education, because during it he studies HOW to communicate to engineers. And generally (I cannot say for the whole world, I am Russian and can judge just from own exprerience) a well educated architect is able to develop basic constructive solution for a building. Engineer just develops it further, in details, but general idea comes from architect. It is not that architect comes with a stupid abstract sketch and says to engineer “Now do it!”. He normally comes with exact constructive offer and an engineer either corrects it, or agrees and develops. (by the way, if architects were skilled to do it by themselves, engineers would lose their job, so engineers should be happy, that knowledge of architects has borders :))
And on that reason I don’t believe in Brad Pitt. He maybe is skilled in marketing, has enough money for making private projects, maybe even has some taste in architecture, but this is still too few to be called an architect, education is anyway missing.
But you know, guys, we make him famous already by talking about him here :)) This is exactly what he (and others, who supports that project) wanted :)
Hey you, esi ole’, i´ll say (making reference to Roger Waters) we are amusing ourselves to death!!!, so architecture might be an artistic GAME scientifically justified based on any kind of experience…..
Talking about Pitt, if he want to do sustainable buildings and also help New Orleans be my guest. There are many famous archs who doesn´t give a sh*t about any of those. I´m already waiting to see the final result of it….
“Aston Martin DB9, glorious deisgn made workable by great engineers, like myself….”
Are all engineers so humble?
We ‘re wandering of here, but everybody seems to forget that starchitects have a gigantic team for them working behind the screens: architects, landscape designers, interior designers, cgi-specialists, modelmakers, project architects, and yes … even engineers … in their own office ! For instance Norman Foster has over a 1.000 employees ! So quit praising only engineers, all employees in those firms have their own indispensable function, from designing a construction detail to making up the specifications texts. And yes, their directors become the starchitects because it seams that they did all the work, forgetting all co-workers (who are also probably underpayed). Further more, it’s not the architects themselves that claim stardom, it ‘s the era with its economical possibilities. (which is slowing down with this crisis) So quit picking on starchitects, they make interesting projects based on interesting contemporary ideas. It’s absolutely normal that we architects are frustrated in not having the same means to develop such projects they do. And it ‘s very understandable to be even more frustrated when we see an actor claiming a professional’s work. It ‘s very cool that he ‘s working for a good cause and it ‘s always refreshing to hear another man’s ideas where a professional often tends to rust. It keeps us focused. News and gossip on famous people always tends to act as as a role model to others; try reading a beauty magazine. Hell, it’s so frustrating when clients try to do your job. But it’s our job to stand out, to act as a professional and to put things like this ‘news’ in perspective.
Wow Thanks Freddy Wolf, your text is refreshing. I am fed up with all these architollah being completely overwhelm by B.Pitt PR operation. There are so many “so called architects” that are just advertising building products, playing lego with them and pretending to be designers. You can read them all over the web complaining about starchitects, while they are filling the environment with their junk.
In response to Frddy Wolf, i totally agree with you. The stars get all the praise, the big rewards and notoriety and the workers are underpaid & probably undervalued.
Who’s to say that the starchitects designs are actually their own, it may be somebody else in the team, and without the starchitects name across the design it may never be built.
I must state that i have nothing against architects, its only the starchitect culture that we live in. As an engineer i had to spend years training and am still learning at the tender age of 38.
I’m new to this commenting malarkey and i think its great. Arch Daily, keep it up. Thanks.
Just for humour i’ll tell this one, when i was 14 i wanted to become an architect. I had no reason as to why. It didnt happen as i was told my art wasn’t up to scratch. Over the last few years i have started looking in to returning to university to study architecture. With the climate in the auto industry the way it is it may be sooner than i planned. Who knows, maybe i’m a starchitect in the making, not.
Tomato,like engineering learning architecture is also a long life process.Especially the last few years (with globalization) it’s getting harder and harder due to more and more norms, prescriptions, certificates, … all inherent to the process of building. Actual time I spend in designing a 250m² house is 5%-10% of the total job. This is reality. This is the difference between a ‘real’ architect, who is in control of every aspect and a ‘starchitect’ who makes sketches and coordinate while employees do the rest. Rest of my time for a single project goes to the administration for the urban request (building permit), execution plans, the material and installation prescriptions, wharf reports, details, completions, on site interventions, negotiations with governments, coordination of specialists’ studies (HVAC, energy studies, safety study, …)and meetings with clients, contractors, representatives.
So let me get this straight. Some people are:
1. Angry that Brad Pitt is bringing attention to architechture (and the type that we like to follow on this blog),
2. Defining an “Architech” as something other than what Merrian-Webster’s does which is: “A: a person who designs buildings and advises in their construction,
B : a person who designs and guides a plan or undertaking and,
3. Not willing to take him seriously because he’s an actor or has not trained?
Brad is an artictech. You can debate whether he is good or bad, certified or not but the man is building things (a lot of which I really like). He clearly has the passion and the bug that we all have. Hell, invite him to this forum! I bet he’d love it and may already be a subscriber.
He brings the field postive attention and is spending his own time and money trying to do good.
Thank you Brad.
He always wanted to do architecture…. You know he started out in architecture school in Springfield MO, Dury College before he went on to acting, right? Lets give him some credit for bringing some attention and money to architecture (and social issues). Using his celebrity for common good. Kudos to Brad.