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Keep the icon alive
Thank you for Robert Ivy’s editorial, “Death of the Icon.” I too began my architecture career in the late 1960s and ‘70s, but I don’t think architectural record should succumb and apologize for publishing beautiful heroic “icons.” It is your duty to publish and encourage an architecture of “passion and poetic depth,” even risking an “eager young” student’s question of “why?” Without icons, expressed in “artistic passion,” there is no magic for the human mind and nothing to sustain architecture — there is only engineering. Soon, architects will ask, along with Pete Seeger, “Where have all the flowers gone?”
The criterion proposed in Robert Ivy’s editorial for the houses presented in the April issue is that they be “iconic.” While he doesn’t provide his definition of the term, some come to mind: “an important or enduring symbol” and “a symbol whose form suggests its meaning or the object it represents.” There was little or no connection between these meanings and the featured houses, in particular the incomprehensible object on the cover whose form suggests anything but a house. Perhaps a re-reading of the cover line “Blurring the Boundaries” (i.e., anything goes) is more instructive. Next time see if you can deliver up some clarity and skip the blur.
Responsible living?
To be sure, many of the Record Houses 2009 are quite beautiful, even stunning. All are very much of the Modernist tradition so in vogue at the moment, yet none reflects the broader goals established by your magazine and by the AIA: Notably, how do we create regional architecture that responds effectively to the specifics of site and climate and how do we make architecture accessible to the general public? Your recent selections reflect a rigid bias toward high-end Modernist projects that do not relate to their particular sites. What does it say to our students and young practitioners when we celebrate such expensive homes?
The April issue of Houses was wonderful to see: beautiful photography of dynamic homes, finely written articles and critiques. I have been so disappointed by the quality of photography in many of the past Houses issues. This year’s issue was super, with wonderful photos by Roland Halbe, Scott Frances, and others.
Are you sure the YTL Residence in Malaysia isn’t a set for an upcoming Bond movie? Your spread is missing 007, his female nemesis, and the evil megalomaniac plotting world destruction. Oh, it’s also missing the control room. Or is that in the basement somewhere?
This year’s Record Houses conveniently disassociated themselves with environmental (and fiscal) responsibility. Good thing, because they represent close to a complete disregard for even a shred of the housing realities we face in the 21st century. Yes, this fact was alluded to in Suzanne Stephens’s intro. Ironically, she noted that issues of sustainability were subjugated in order to diversify the range of houses, but only two of the eight aren’t set in a stereotypical rural context that would make even an abandoned station wagon look good! I really question the purpose of Record Houses. Each year they seem more and more removed from forward-thinking ideas and issues about the home.
The editors reply:
We are well aware of the economic and environmental issues involved in housing — this is the reason we devoted so many pages in March to the recession and why our sister magazine GreenSource recently published its first issue devoted to sustainable housing. Many of the Record Houses were chosen as a farewell gesture to a time when it was possible to live out our fantasies. We know next year’s choices will reflect a very different moment.
Strong words
RECORD without architectural images on the cover?! As a soon-to-be architectural professional, the cover of the March 2009 issue drew my attention more than any photo. News about the recession, including pink-slipped seniors and the depressed academic atmosphere, actually motivated me to keep working on design. As I read the issue, I could sense the seriousness of the current economic recession and, at first, it made me depressed. Paradoxically, however, I felt somewhat relieved after I finished reading. This recession is not just my concern — it’s everyone’s. I’ve come to appreciate that since architecture is eventually for the people, record is right to talk about real human issues. For architecture to be good, it must incorporate the realities of the human condition in society.
Unwanted advice
I found Brian James Barr’s report on John Morefield’s advice booth both sad and infuriating. While I applaud Morefield for his tenacity during tough times, I am saddened to see my fellow professional sink to such levels. What other professionals would do something like this, and what other profession would allow it? Wouldn’t a doctor lose his license? Wouldn’t an attorney be disbarred? This is just another example of the mind-set that has led architects to being some of the lowest-paid professionals around. We need to figure out how we can catch up to the other members of the construction industry, not find ways to give discounts for our valuable services.
CORRECTIONS
In the article on the Vienna Way Residence [April 2009, page 74], the second-floor plan and the north arrow were turned the wrong way by 180 degrees. March’s Commentary on Medellín, Colombia [page 37], should have credited Ana E. Velez for her work on the botanic garden’s entry pavilion and also have noted that she and Giovanna Spera were on the team behind Parque de los Pies Descalzos. Due to a transcription error, a story in the March issue [page 58] indicated that construction on SOM’s Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou, China, had temporarily ceased. In fact, that project was never suspended. A separate, large commercial-and-residential project in Guangzhou had been put on hold, but construction has since resumed.
Please send letters
via e-mail to editor-in-chief Robert Ivy at
rivy@mcgraw-hill.com.
Letters may be edited for style and format.
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© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved