Enough Already, Ben Forgey

Monday, February 12, 2006

There he goes again! In his Sunday, February 12, 2006 Washington Post Cityscape column, Ben Forgey, entertains his readers with the latest decon architecture in Spain. And, at the same time, pays no attention to the wonderful Spanish cities where these new designs have been sited. This is not one of my rants at Mr. Forgey. It's more a case of highlighting some of silliness of these projects.

This is the Valleceron Chapel. My first reaction is that the building is upside down. My second reaction was that this is not Corbusier at Ronchamp.  Just to see what it might look like if the top were to be the bottom, take a look at the next image.

It doesn't look any less silly. But at least the building is no longer top-heavy and is also anchored to the ground.

This is a park under construction in Seville. I lost interest in the upper photo of what the pedestrian would experience under the canopy because the earlier description of an airport not shown as "biomorphic" seemed to apply here as well. I don't know what the word means specificially, in reference to architecture - I'm playing dumb here. In any case, if I don't understand both the word in this context, then I don't understand Forgey's understanding of the building.

I like a good joke as much as anyone. But these sillinesses cannot be classified as even a bad joke!

What does grab me in the lower photo above is that it reminds me of some of the tin roofs seen in less elite neighborhoods in Mexico. In this case, the wavy roof and graffiti-like pattern adorns an unfinished traditional building. In any case, it seems like bad joke of vernacular Spanish architecture.

Comments

[Brian Miller]

Spain is held up in the design press as this exemplar of design innovation since the fall of Franco Have you seen, though, the bizarre spiky strcutures and bleak pavements and strange objets trouvees (already covered with grafitti) which exemplify the supposedly progressive public spaces in Barcelona. Not impressive to me. (Give me Lyon's new and renovated squares-in old fogey France-anyday)