Class Rage and Architecture

[pantryslut]

I was not expecting to have to wrestle with class rage while writing this dinky little article whose specific subject matter I will not discuss so that I don't have to put this under lock.

But, well, let's just say that the old family story I tell about Pick Hall on the University of Chicago campus is ringing in my ears today. For those of you who haven't heard it before:

I was strolling with a classmate along the University of Chicago campus and pointed to Pick Hall, the chic little modern building anchoring the southeast block of the Quads.

"My great-uncle built that building," I said.

Classmate replied with a hint of breathless excitement, "Your uncle designed that building?"

"No," I said. "My uncle built that building."

Because goddamnit, if someone else has to figure out how to make your design structurally feasible in the real world, it's not a design. It's a sketch. And that "someone else" (all the someones) deserves to be the famous one at least as much as you. And at this point in the process we haven't even gotten to the level of folks like my great-uncle yet.

And now you know why I have a tendency to unconsciously snarl when I hear the word "architecture." (Sorry, architects.)

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Say it! Excellent point, well made.