Death of a Salesman by Edgar Mozo
ARCHITECTURE LIMBO: breeding grounds for wolves in sheep's clothing
WHERE DO WE DRAW THE LINE BETWEEN BRANDING OURSELVES IN
ORDER TO ESTABLISH ONES CAREER AND KEEPING OUR VERY OWN ARCHITECTURAL
INTEGRITY WITHOUT SELLING OUT? DOES IT HOLD TRUE WHEN YOU HAVE STUDENT LOANS
TO PAY? MOUTHS TO FEED? BILLS TO PAY? This balancing act is so far from the
interns’ minds that we do not bother to think about it. However, have you ever
question your superior’s architectural integrity? Are we doing our profession a
service by working for just a paycheck? I found this reading to be so
liberating by clarifying the meaning of what architecture is set out to be or
where it gets its notoriously ambiguity from. In this architecture limbo –free from
any elite group or any governing style has allowed for salesman to infiltrate
our profession.
One way to spot such vicious predators is to hear the way
they describe their services. Two, how they find the need to personify the
buildings they design and for their products to do something more than what
they are intended for. Terms like, performing, breathing, efficient; and so on,
get thrown around as they continue to make architecture that is something “more”.
“Less is more”, “more is more”, “yes is more”, all this quotes start to sound
like political slogans and ironically architects like biark ingles are very
clear with their intentions by assimilating to figures like Barack Obama from
his 2008 presidential campaign with his slogan “yes we can”. Bjark Ingels’ “Yes is more” manifesto is his way of
saying: here I am and here is my brand and this is what I’m selling. It is
extremely hard to say this and I continue to reject the thought that architects
are just nothing more than glorified salesman, unfortunately in our generation
that is the only thing that seems to be selling.
What architecture brand has our city not yet purchased? Mayor, so far we have a Calatrava, Gehry and a Prada. We should get one of the BIG’s
he seems to be popular right now with our young generation of architects right?
It seems to gain fame and attention in todays society, specially the artistic part of it, branding is everything. Art and architecture sells like McDonalds. Its loud, available, brightly colored, and highly advertised. The greats of our time... Ghery, BIG, Koons, lichtenstein, Zaha... would we know any of these names if they weren't big personalities with fantastic salesmanship? Doubtful. But... on the other side of the coin, did they start out famous, working for someone famous? doubtful again. They were most likely looking to pay the bills on their way to fame. I don't think as recent graduates we are losing our architectural or design integrity by finding a job that simply pays the bills... as long as our intentions are pure and we aren going to become comfortable there. However, do what I say, not what I do... because I'm only knocking on the doors that inspire me.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mike. We live in an age where marketing has become so accessible to anyone with the internet and social media. We as students don't just make printed portfolios, but some go to the extent of making websites so they can better market themselves. Every relationship we create, there's a notion of networking in the back of your mind, or should be. We watch what we say or do on social media because we do not want it to hurt our "brand". Is it sad that we have become censored, or so projective of one side of us? Possibly, yes. But is it also the harsh reality in the world we live? Yes.
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