Architecture of the Absurd: How "Genius" Disfigured a Practical Art

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ISliN: 978-I-(595-72O27-8 $27.50 / $55.00 (1\N

1 lave you ever wondered why the (juggerdieiin is always covered in scaffolding? Why the slashes on the exterior of Libeskind’s Jewish Mnseinn, supposed to represent Jewish life in prewar Berlin, reappear, for no reason, on his Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto? Or why Gehry’s design for an MIT lab for sensitive research has glass walls? Not to mention why, for $442 per square foot, it doesn’t keep out the rain? You’re not alone. In Architecture of the Absurd^ John Silber dares to peek behind the curtain of “genius” architects and expose their willful disdain for their clients, their budgets, and the people who live or work inside their creations. In his twenty-five years as President of Boston Univ'ersity, Dr. Silber oversaw a building program totaling more than 15 million square feet. Mere he constructs an unflinching case, beautifully illustrated, against the worst trends in contemporary architecture. He challenges architects to derive creative satisfaction from meeting the practical needs of clients and the public. 1 le urges the directors of our universities, symphony orchestras, museums, and corporations to stop financing inefficient, ov^erpriced architecture, and calls on clients and the public to tell the emperors of our skylines that their pretensions cannot hide the naked absurdity of their designs.

Arch itect u re How “Genius” Disfigured a Practicai Art John Siiber The Quantuck Lane Press New York

Architecture of the Absurd

1 low “denius” Disfigured a Practical Art (copyright © 2007 by John Silber Since this page cainiot legibly acconnnodate all the perniissions and copyright notices, page 94 constitutes an extension of the copyright page.

All rights reserxed Printed in Italy First Fdition .Manufacturing by Mondadori Printing, \erona

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-l^uhlication Data Silber, .John. .\rehiteeture of the absurd : how “genius” disfigured a practical art / John Silber. — 1st ed. p. cm. ISBN 97S-1-.'^C)572-027-H

1. .\rehit(*eture—1 lunian factors. 2. Creation (I^iterary, artistic, etc.) 5. Absurd (Philosophy) in art. 4. Architects and patrons. 5. .Architecture and society.

1. Title. N.\2.542.4.S55 2007 724'.b--de22 200702c)b.'51

riie (^)uantuek Lane Press .\( *w \ork www.ijiiantueklaiiepress.eoni

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