25 years in the making, the new Los Angeles County Museum of Art (“LACMA”) recently opened to the public. The adjectives are in: ravishing, dismal, lyrical, divisive, pugnacious, palpable, disorienting, iconic, polarizing, dazzling, inelegant, revolutionary, one-liner, monotonous, and so on. The range of commentary is vast, being that much of criticism is subjective.
The second longest river in Europe at 1,800 miles in length, the Danube courses through ten countries. My recent Danube cruise journeyed through three of the ten: Hungary, Austria, and Germany. My 14 most striking design events are as follows, in order of travel.
What is a building, and how exactly do we define architecture? A few weeks ago, the annual Pritzker Prize (architecture’s highest honor) was awarded to Chilean architect, Smiljan Radic Clarke. As we ponder what a building is and is not, he challenges our understanding of enclosing space and building for shelter.
It started with a study of adding lamp posts in downtown Los Angeles. It ended up with Poon Design, AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group), and a team of consultants transforming a six-lane, 1/3 mile long vehicular thoroughfare into a public plaza of over three acres.
One often thinks of architecture as buildings, as structures of diverse sizes, from house to temple, museum to high-rise. As one scales downward, architecture also includes the design of cabinetry, furniture, and accessories. Michael Graves’ ubiquitous teapot, for example. So how about a watch? If a work of architecture comprises form, function, engineering, and craft, the design of a watch is indeed architectural. Architecture also enlightens the human spirit, engaging society and history through artistic expression and cultural impact. So too a watch does.
Within the many facets of the architectural profession, four distinct aspects stand out.
1) The most obvious aspect is design. No doubt, architecture is a creative endeavor.
2) As a business, next is management. The organization of projects, schedules, and staff is critical to business objectives like stability, growth, and profit.
3) PR is third. Marketing provides exposure and recognition.
4) The most important, arguably, is business development, as in obtaining clients and projects.
