Architect Antonio Miranda, writing for the ARKRIT Collective, invites us to reflect in this article on romantic subjectivism in criticism, presenting a simple example in defense of the objective criticism of the object, which speaks to us much more honestly and sincerely than the author of the work themselves. He puts this assertion to the test by comparing two famous buildings in Madrid's Plaza de España: the Edificio España and the Torre de Madrid.
A century apart, W. Benjamin and K. Marx converge in their assertion: We should not listen to any author when they comment on their own work. Both masters offer this warning because such narcissistic, "auteur" lyricism is not only useless but typically serves as deluded and deceitful propaganda. This partly explains the corruption of postmodern pseudo-criticism. Even though our patron saint, Karel Teige, listens to Le Corbusier, he is capable of objectively distinguishing the high architectural values of the scientific Corbusier—the machine for living in—from his subsequent formalist decadence as an artist of the bourgeoisie: "The play of volumes under light, etc."
