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Architects are not necessarily progressives. There was some debate a few years ago about whether Le Corbusier was a fascist. And although he wasn't a Nazi, ther

Architects are not necessarily progressives. There was some debate a few years ago about whether Le Corbusier was a fascist. And although he wasn't a Nazi, there are other kinds of fascism, and the evidence strongly implies he leaned that way. https://brill.com/view/journals/fasc/6/2/article-p196_196.xml?language=en https://brill.com/view/journals/fasc/6/2/article-p196_196.xm... Philip Johnson is another architect with far-right sympathies. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/dept-of-design/philip-johnson-the-man-who-made-architecture-amoral https://www.newyorker.com/culture/dept-of-design/philip-john... Demagogues who want "classical architecture" are reliably fascist. Speer and Hitler both created a watered down classicism fined tuned for functional oppressiveness. But you can see "classicist fascism" throughout Europe, especially in Italy and Spain. It's not any less monumental and oppressive than modernism. It has much more stone, much less glass, and - sometimes - slightly more interesting windows. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascist_architecture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascist_architecture I agree completely that the antidote to both is a human scale communalism. But they don't seem to teach that in most architecture schools. Or if they do, most students remain more interested in showy egotism than inspired functional, humane spaces.

bedobi 5y ago
> Demagogues who want "classical architecture" are reliably fascist dedinitely the ones who are, well, demagogues, and want state aggrandizing statement "classical" buildings, yes but saying the only choice is between that or modern eyesores is kind of a false dichotomy, there's plenty of space for normal people who just want pleasant urban spaces for humans to happily exist in without taking it to either extreme
ethbr0 5y ago
My experience was that human scale communalism is highly taught in architecture schools, at the same time as idolization of celebrity architects. It's quite the dichotomy. The economic reality is also that most clients (who are paying) want one of two things: (1) the cheapest box that meets all their functional requirements or (2) a grand monument.
- neutronicus 5y ago
  I think you've summed up the problems with the author equating "Art" with "Progressivism." Plenty of artists want to be celebrities, and there will always be tension between that goal and progressive politics.
  - ethbr0 5y ago
    The true radical is the rare person who can luck into fame and still say career-threatening things.
robertlagrant 5y ago
> Architects are not necessarily progressives. There was some debate a few years ago about whether Le Corbusier was a fascist. And although he wasn't a Nazi, there are other kinds of fascism, and the evidence strongly implies he leaned that way. Progressive is not the same as good. I believe Eugenics (a Nazi fascination) was considered Progressive in the US in the 30s.

bedobi 5y ago

> Demagogues who want "classical architecture" are reliably fascist dedinitely the ones who are, well, demagogues, and want state aggrandizing statement "classical" buildings, yes but saying the only choice is between that or modern eyesores is kind of a false dichotomy, there's plenty of space for normal people who just want pleasant urban spaces for humans to happily exist in without taking it to either extreme

ethbr0 5y ago

My experience was that human scale communalism is highly taught in architecture schools, at the same time as idolization of celebrity architects. It's quite the dichotomy. The economic reality is also that most clients (who are paying) want one of two things: (1) the cheapest box that meets all their functional requirements or (2) a grand monument.

neutronicus 5y ago
I think you've summed up the problems with the author equating "Art" with "Progressivism." Plenty of artists want to be celebrities, and there will always be tension between that goal and progressive politics.
- ethbr0 5y ago
  The true radical is the rare person who can luck into fame and still say career-threatening things.

robertlagrant 5y ago

> Architects are not necessarily progressives. There was some debate a few years ago about whether Le Corbusier was a fascist. And although he wasn't a Nazi, there are other kinds of fascism, and the evidence strongly implies he leaned that way. Progressive is not the same as good. I believe Eugenics (a Nazi fascination) was considered Progressive in the US in the 30s.