Architecture Doesn’t Need Rebuilding, It Needs More Thoughtful Critics

Subscriber Access

In the last few weeks, a number of reactionary architectural commentators have come out of the woodwork to denounce what they see as the currently negative direction of contemporary architecture. They claim that architecture needs to be “rebuilt” or that it is “imploding.” From their indications, architecture is on life-support, taking its last breath. The critique they offer is that contemporary architecture has become (or always was?) insensitive to users, to site conditions, to history—hardly a novel view. Every few years, this kind of frontal assault on the value of contemporary architecture is launched, but the criticisms this time seem especially shallow and misplaced. Surveying the contemporary global architecture scene, I actually feel that we’re in a surprisingly healthy place, if you look beyond the obvious showpieces. We’ve escaped from the overt dogmas of the past, we’ve renewed our focus on issues of the environment and social agency, we’re more concerned than ever with tectonics and how to build with quality. But the perennial critics of contemporary architecture appear not to have examined that deeply, nor that thoughtfully either. And unfortunately the various rebuttals to their critiques, ostensibly in support of modern and experimental architecture, have been ham-handed and poorly argued.

Architecture Doesn’t Need Rebuilding, It Needs More Thoughtful Critics - More Images+ 7

Content Loader
About this author
Cite: Matthew Johnson. "Architecture Doesn’t Need Rebuilding, It Needs More Thoughtful Critics" 29 Jan 2020. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/586834/architecture-doesn-t-need-rebuilding-it-needs-more-thoughtful-critics> ISSN 0719-8884

建筑需要的不是重建,而是有思想的批判

You've started following your first account!

Did you know?

You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.