Architect, heal thyself

[libertango]

* From an interview in Der Spiegel, called "Evil Can Also Be Beautiful":
SPIEGEL: Some people say that if architects had to live in their own buildings, cities would be more attractive today.
Koolhaas: Oh, come on now, that's really trivial.
SPIEGEL: Where do you live?
Koolhaas: That's unimportant. It's less a question of architecture than of finances.
SPIEGEL: You're avoiding the question. Where do you live?
Koolhaas: OK, I live in a Victorian apartment building in London.

{hat tip to John Massengale}

Comments

[hal-obrien.livejournal.com]

Hrm. So much I disagree with here. I would say couture designers wear plain black because that's the uniform, no less so than in the military, or at McDonald's. Avant garde work isn't, and hasn't been for a century or so. Hardly anything has been new in the arts since WWI - it's all endless recycling. It's about careerism, and showing to one's peers that one is of the tribe. And, oh yeah, to fuck the client.

But even if one grants your premise, couture is intended for one-off special occasions. Architecture is all about, "being usable, functional, and affordable," and catering to "the day to day life of," the client. For years, decades, and centuries.

That's why his claim about his choice of house being, "less a question of architecture than of finances," rings so hollow. Because "a Victorian apartment building in London," is probably the most expensive possible dwelling in the world, per square foot. It's expensive precisely because it's so livable and desirable, while modernist buildings almost always sell at a discount -- it's the only way to entice people to buy things they dislike.