“I don't think the argument has yet to be successfully made in
this thread, that beauty and taste are not the same, or, that the difference is
tangible enough to be important. The Kimball is beautiful only to those of a
specific taste culture, and even within that taste culture there is going to be
disagreement. Gehry's later works are the poster children for this position.
They are to some architects very beautiful and to other equally educated
architects very ugly. Why? I think it’s because we all carry our own
encyclopedias full of pleasurable architectural precedents. These encyclopedias
are as unique to us as our fingerprints. Some are heavy in intellectual
content, others heavier in the emotional (one could at this point mention Bach
vs Beethoven). This is why many academics cringe when student critiques tread
into the beauty vs non- beauty arena (or cool vs non-cool). In addition that
discussion will ultimately relate to class and privilege (high culture vs low
culture) which is sure to distract teachers and students alike from the task at
hand. Rather speak of a process, space, relationships, and logic.”
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Stephen Altherr AIA
Stephen Altherr AIA
“RE: Stephen Altherr, I'll grant that beauty and taste are
often inappropriately substituted for each other and it rarely matters. But are
you also intending to minimize the importance of both? If so, would you like to
radically revise AIA design awards programs? Or maybe leave the
"design" awards alone and establish a separate architecture awards
program? One that privileges process, space, relationships and logic?”
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Mike Mense FAIA
Mike Mense FAIA
RE: Mike Mense: This implies that process, space, relationships
and logic are unrelated to architectural design success. This may be true when
the emphasis is on the form and appearance of a building; but it is logic that ignores
the hundreds, if not thousands, of invisible decisions required to produce
final shelter capacity, intensity, intrusion and dominance that is measureable.
It represents logic and priorities that should be carefully considered by all
who wish to build architectural knowledge.
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Walter Hosack
