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In Praise of Boring Architecture (and Art)
In a world where everybody screams, some crave for silence.
There’s a problem in architecture — well, in art in general. To stay in business, an architectural office has to sell. The best way to make a name for itself is through architectural magazines and, more recently, the internet and social media. Competitions can help, but even they are publicised by the same media outlets. And nothing sells better than a good picture, right?
One prominent Slovenian architect, for instance, designed a shopping mall interior entirely in red. It looked spectacular in renders and early photos, and even won several awards — but in real life it gave the employees constant headaches and nausea. They had to repaint it, but at that point the goal for the architectural office was already achieved, which was to get published, collect accolades, and attract new clients. How the current client copes with living inside an Instagram post is of little concern to anyone.
How did we get here?
Before mass reproduction, every piece of art existed in a single copy. Music performances were unique in space and time, and if…
