Gesamtkunstwerk doesn’t werk

A Gesamtkunstwerk (German: [gəˈzamtˌkʊnstvɛʁk], translated as "total work of art", "ideal work of art", "universal artwork", "synthesis of the arts", "comprehensive artwork", "all-embracing art form" or "total artwork") is a work of art that makes use of all or many art forms or strives to do so.

Architects egos are unparalleled. The greats have wielded their design skills far and wide. We fan girl after their work with wide eyes, studying their stiff designs with nothing but astonishment.  Their ridged and unchanging works stick out like a sore thumb against their backdrops, completely ignoring context, and we somehow make them work with the changing needs of everyday life, outfitting them and upfitting them as need be. These works, while novel and ingenious in their time, were often insensitive to their location and lacked forward thought as to the changing needs of the unknown. These greats didn’t need a design team; they designed everything, the envelope, furnishings, in some cases even the patterns for fabrics on interiors.  This approach is insensitive to the feeling of an entire community and doesn’t leave room for lively, dynamic, and complex designs. The Schroder house for example, while brilliant in a vacuum, is completely alien to its environment. Attention to context is lacking in starchitecture or Architecture with a capital “A”. I obviously paint with a wide brush here… but it’s often true. Lets take downtown Charleston for example… small scale, modest color pallet, simple single houses made of brick, stone, and timber. A sense of shared values is evident here. While walking down Church street you are unmistakably in downtown Charleston. Amsterdam, Paris… the list goes on. Charlestonians wont allow an alien building, they have gone so far as to band together and create a citizen driven board of architectural review.  In short… Gesamtkunstwerk doesn’t werk. Total works of art do not make for places with context, or places with heart. We need a team to design sensitive architecture that has a sense of place and can change with the times. Rome wasn’t built in a day, or by one person. So step down from the high horse, take a look around, get some help, and lets start designing sensitive buildings that fit with their context.