Performance First

"...We need to politicize the discipline as the mediator between humans and non-humans, culture and technology and the mechanism that will enable us to produce problematized matters of concern: Things rather than Objects."

The Birmingham Train Station in England by Zaera and the luxury waterfront residences in the Bahamas by B.I.G., are two examples of envelopes we discussed in class. I have a very hard time classifying these works as things. To me, they are objects.  The reflective facade applied to the train station serves as a billboard, loudly announcing its presence to the area. The pools of the Bahamas residences are too tiny and pointy to function as anything other than a wet chair. They really exist to announce the presence of wealth and privilege, making them just as much of a billboard as the train station. However, part of my judgement could be a product of my environment. Zaera accurately states that:

"The discipline is driven toward the seemingly quantifiable processes where statics, construction processes, economy and lately environmental performance are seen as the backbone of architecture..."

He is correct. The profession has become extremely performance based, so much so that I view facades like the one on the train station as downright wasteful. However, maybe its this performance obsession that creates such a stale creative culture of corporate architects. Can I be ok with simply liking something because of the feeling or atmosphere it creates?