I think it boils down to the lack of grand vision. "Celebrity architects" nowadays mostly focus on the looks, slapping a fancy sculpture of a building into an e

I think it boils down to the lack of grand vision. "Celebrity architects" nowadays mostly focus on the looks, slapping a fancy sculpture of a building into an environment they don't care about (like that one [1], the block might just as well "fit" literally anywhere else) and splitting it into the same old office/apartment boxes on the inside. Surely it looks good on renders, but there is no idea, it's just pure ornament. Compare and contrast with Barbican Estate [2] [3], which is a social experiment and an embodiment of a vision first and housing project second. None of those generic house-sculptures will be revered and studied in 40 years. It's a shame the current crop of star architects is so obsessed with bling. [1]: https://www.archdaily.com/907124/zaha-hadid-maker-of-the-21st-century/5c06607408a5e5c711000669-zaha-hadid-maker-of-the-21st-century-photo https://www.archdaily.com/907124/zaha-hadid-maker-of-the-21s... [2]: https://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/the-barbican-estate-book-stefi-orazi https://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/the-barbican-estate-b... [3]: https://robots.thoughtbot.com/barbican-estate-walking-through-lessons-learnt https://robots.thoughtbot.com/barbican-estate-walking-throug...