“Architecture is too insular.” How many times have I heard this? Too many times to count. I’ve heard it from architects and non-architects, alike. It is not necessarily insular in the strict sense. It is more the case that it appears insular because it is self-referencing and self-validating. OK, so on second thought maybe it is just insular no matter how you define it. But my definition has more to do with the inward gaze of the profession that makes it a world unto itself. Like all worlds it has a need for celebrities.
More after the break.
What is the need for these celebrities, the “starchitects”? Why on earth are there starchitects in the first place? Where did they come from? Were they created by a Fifth Avenue marketing campaign? Not exactly, but something close to this: the profession itself gave birth to this phenomenon. This is one way the profession dialogs with itself, validates itself, and celebrates itself. However, some of them, like Frank Gehry, abhor the label and resist the responsibility it entails.
