Changing architecture

John Silber has written a book called Architecture of the Absurd in which he describes his complaints with contemporary (not Modern) architecture. In particular, this former president of Boston University seems equally upset with buildings where details fail (like Pei's John Hancock with windows that popped out and Gehry's Stata Center currently tied up in a lawsuit) and buildings that are deliberately designed in ways he can't comprehend (like Gehry's Stata Center and Holl's Simmons Hall, both at MIT). The Wall Street Journal reviewed the book recently:

A recurrent theme of Mr. Silber's is Genius architects' talent at verbal persuasion -- often a combination of jargon and bullying. For Mr. Silber, no one does it better than Frank Gehry, whose "misconception...that architecture has no distinct purpose or consequent limitations that distinguish it fundamentally from painting and sculpture has led him to impose on clients works that are profligate in cost and grotesquely unaccommodating to their purpose." Which brings us back to the Stata Center, "the pièce de résistance of absurdity in architecture."

Silber seems especially interested in buildings in the Boston area. For instance, Sert's Peabody Center on the Charles. Based on the descriptions online, I suspect that I agree with his assessments of some individual buildings but would tend to disagree with his contempt for architects trying to achieve new and exciting things with their buildings. Practicality is probably underrated these days, but it isn't the only measure of success in design.

If reading isn't your thing, you can watch an interview about the book online.

(The photos is of Gehry's Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota)