Architects don't half talk a load of crap. So do lots of artistic types, I know, but I've noticed in the past that architects are particularly prone to flights of BS.
Take, for example, the 91-year old Toronto native starchitect Frank Gehry, who has designed (at least in the back-of-an-envelope respect) a couple of new tower blocks for King Steeet West.
They are vaguely interesting tonthe extent that some sections are cantilevered and twisted somewhat, but essentially they are blue glass and steel monoliths such as comprise much of the rest of Toronto's downtown core, albeit in a part of downtown not yet totally dominated by blue glass and steel monoliths.
So, what does the great man find to tell the press about it? "I think the buildings have a level of humanity other buildings around them don't have," (er, nope, not really!), "and a respect for local surroundings" (er, definitely not!) King Street still has a fair few two-storey older buildings in its streetscape, which could be said to exhibit some degree of "humanity" and "respect", but these new planned edifices are just blue glass and steel monoliths - more interesting than some, not as interesting a others - so, please, don't talk to me about "humanity" and "respect"!
Gehry continues: "The idea was that the towers would speak to each other. And I wondered, could you create a void between the two that was strong enough to suggest a third building?" Wha'? They're just buildings, dude, separated by a space from one another, as building tend to be. Can you not just let them stand (or not) on their own merits, without lapsing into deep BS-isms?
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