So last Friday I read that Stephen Holl has been awarded the AIA (American Institute of Architects) Gold Medal. The article refers to a quote by one of the selection committee who notes:
Holl’s building hovers above garden and park spaces on eight legs, creating a shaded microclimate and quality public outdoor space that’s sorely lacking in developing-world cities. Making the building coexist and interact with the green space below necessitated that this developing nation take a fundamental symbol of its burgeoning prosperity—a new shimmering high rise tower—and tip it on its side. Such depth of inquiry and lack of presupposition in Holl’s work make this kind of audacious gambit almost common in his buildings.
Here is a picture of that quality outdoor public space:
Note the throngs of people admiring, appreciating and enjoying the quality outdoor public space
Now we examine what one might presume is a contrasting and thus a a poor example of a quality outdoor public space – no one knows the "starchitect involved":
Notice the un-used spaces, lack of extensive vista and the obvious poor quality outdoor public space –pathetic
What a joke the profession has become, so self-focued and without knowledge that it is no longer noticed or questioned in the architalk. It is no longer about life, but about the object and the admiration of others in the club.
