Most of the buildings featured here are extremely difficult to build. Their constructions are true accomplishments. Considering egress, codes, varying material expansions, seismic conditions, liabilities, weatherproofing, and simply joy all at once is made more daunting when attempting unique forms.
But at what point does the architect’s will swallow the character of all else? Where is the love of building, of aging, of the guest, of the world itself? Must expressiveness and playfulness be reserved for the initial formal sketches, and removed from all other aspects of the built environment?
An architect must be a diplomat, designer, lawyer, urbanist, conservationist, builder, artist, engineer and efficiency expert all at once, and must know how his/her client works & lives in minute detail. Maintaining a singularity of will throughout this process can be awe-inspiring and exciting. It can also be brutal and oppressive.
Many times it is all of these things at once.
At the Palace of Versailles, this was the design intent, showing us the total command its resident held over armies of laborers. Many of today’s celebrated designers prefer to showcase a total command of physics, yet the armies of laborers are still required. Unlike at Versailles, the evidence of their labor is often meant to disappear in today’s construction, suggesting a more brutal power than even that wielded by past kings.
Before what are we as visitors intended to cower? The fortitude of the residents? The money and power of the owner? The creative vision of the designer? The subjugation of the labor force?
Or perhaps the objects themselves, and their otherworldly presence?
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