i'd post "what's your controversial take about architecture" but i already know the replies will be a combination of "brutalism rules" and "brutalism sucks"

fine, 1 like = 1 controversial take on architecture (until i get bored)

the powers that be should just move the farnsworth house to IIT.

society if architecture people just used the term "late modernism" instead of trying to shoehorn individual buildings into increasingly internecine taxonomic categories

the berlin philharmonie is the most important concert hall in history

i am not doing 101 hot takes. i'll do like maybe 20

(extremely spicy) you don't need a specific degree in order to be considered enlightened about art and architecture. this does not apply to urban planning.

"urbanism" isn't a real thing it's just slang describing the work of people who write non-fiction pieces about cities and also people who think riding a bike is a personality

the entire city of chicago, from the most humble two-flat to the most grand block-wide development, is living proof that providing mass-produced adequate housing does not necessarily have to come at the cost of good looks

the roman brick is the superior brick

reflective glass is bad. blue glass is bad. green low-e glass, however, is very good

manfredo tafuri: the least wrong man in architecture theory. a hero and a saint. (except that time he left out the colonial legacy of france when talking about le corbusier's work in algeria in architecture and utopia for some reason)

the entire blearily rehashed and reified aesthetic palette of the 1980s is just rehashes of postmodern classicism and memphis milano, both movements from the 70s, mixed with art deco

everything frederic jameson said about the 80s is true

color and supergraphics are the easiest and best ways to enliven boring, faceless, hated buildings at little financial and environmental cost

people should design buildings with built-in birdhouses

there has never been a good american football stadium

there should be mandatory designing for birds classes in all architecture and landscape architecture programs

mcmansions, as much as we hate them, are the most successful iteration of american vernacular architecture since the ranch house

we talk about brutalism too much and postmodernism (especially late PoMo) too little in discussions of "the worst architecture ever"

we as a field should be ready to discuss architecture that was built from 1995-2008 in the same granular detail with which we examine the midcentury period instead of simply focusing on the same starchitects we focus on now. that means engaging seriously with the vernacular.

it is devastating that preservationists aren't working with developers at all time to preserve drawings of ordinary buildings. we have entire sprawling communities and eras that are completely undocumented and un-preserved in any tangible way. that's right: its time for HABS 2

too much emphasis is placed on malls because they attempt to do urbanism and community and stuff. not enough emphasis on strip malls which are antithetical to so much of what good architecture presents itself to be

give richard meier's pritzker to denise scott brown

it's fine if shutters don't literally shut (or extend far enough to potentially cover the window) as long as they are well-constructed and relatively proportional to the window

say what you want about frank lloyd wright and le corbusier but at least they designed their houses for short kings

frank lloyd wright the man is overrated. frank lloyd wright's houses are still deeply moving pieces of architecture and i'm willing to stand by that even though it's extremely cool to roll your eyes and hate him now

corbu was overrated as an architect, sensationalized as a planner, underrated as a painter, appreciably rated as an industrial designer, and underrated as an absolute snack

however, compared to writers, artists, and composers, no famous architect has ever been particularly handsome

zaha hadid is the architecture equivalent of hillary clinton

norman foster peaked at the sainsbury center

some architects, like peter zumthor, do not scale up well at all and should be relegated to small scale projects. some architects, like jeanne gang, exclusively excel at medium scale projects. no architect exclusively excels at large scale projects.

i hated the high line

spicy: DS+R was never good

rem koolhaas has tumblr gif blog daddy energy

we as a field need to openly acknowledge that michael graves was an immense pervert instead of gossiping about it sotto voce like we have for the last 20 years

it is deeply sad that philip johnson, an ex-fascist, got to live openly and proudly as a gay man because of the insulation of his enormous wealth but paul rudolph, son of an itinerant preacher, was pressured by his colleagues and superiors to live in closeted shame

the eames lounger isn't comfortable if you're under 5'5"

having a giant sliding door doesn't make the outside your living room. stop saying that.

the smithsons were young kids who, during their ascension to fame, had no idea what they actually believed, which is deeply, deeply relatable

ok that's enough for tonight