«
»

function first, then creativity

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-MI…

BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is suing renowned architect Frank Gehry, alleging serious design flaws in the Stata Center, a building celebrated for its unconventional walls and radical angles.

The school asserts that the center, completed in spring 2004, has persistent leaks, drainage problems and mold growing on its brick exterior. It says accumulations of snow and ice have fallen dangerously from window boxes and other areas of its roofs, blocking emergency exits and causing damage.

The suit says MIT paid Los Angeles-based Gehry Partners $15 million to design the Stata Center, which cost $300 million to build.

I hate “superstars” who are incapable of (or unwilling to) basic competence. Like the engineer who refuses to write code because he’s “an architect”, or the marketing person who won’t write ad copy, the architect who can’t design a roof that works is destroying value..

Sure, sure, “art operates by different rules”.

And if you’re not getting some failures from time to time, you’re not pushing the edges of the envelope.

…but forgive me for thinking that the majority of failures are not because the domain is SO alien that they were inevitable, and are instead caused by arrogance and/or laziness.

(via)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 6th, 2007 at 11:51 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

6 Responses to “function first, then creativity”

  1. miriam Says:
    November 7th, 2007 at 10:23 am

    Like Frank Lloyd Wright, who answered a complaint that the roof was leaking by saying “move your chair”. (actually, there are a couple of leaky roof comments; I only knew one but found some others when I googled).
    I’ve always thought that beauty lay in elegant functionality.

  2. ngvrnd Says:
    November 7th, 2007 at 11:13 am

    If you follow the via, you’ll find another supposed FLW quote about roof leaks.

  3. miriam Says:
    November 7th, 2007 at 11:34 am

    The funny thing is, that he has all these high faultin’ quotes about form and function… and his buildings are all about form and NOT function.
    As gonzo said:
    “ART ART ART!”

  4. ngvrnd Says:
    November 7th, 2007 at 1:04 pm

    Did FLW contradict himself? Very well then. He was vast. He contained multitudes.

    Fallingwater’s the only one I’ve seen close up, having grown up in SW PA, but it’s certainly impressive.

  5. QM Says:
    November 7th, 2007 at 1:04 pm

    “It probably won an award.”

  6. DJB Says:
    November 7th, 2007 at 9:38 pm

    form follows function!