Commodification and Spectacle in Architecture

Presents diverse points of view on the relationship between design and capitalism. Volume 1 of the "Harvard Design Magazine Readers", a new series drawn from the pages of "Harvard Design Magazine" featuring prominent thinkers, writers, and photographers in international architecture and design today. More than ever, architectural design is seen as a means to promote commercial goals rather than as an end in itself. Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, for example, simply cannot be considered apart from its intended role as a catalyst for the economic revitalization of Bilbao and its ability to attract tourist dollars, regardless of its architectural merits. A built environment intended to seduce consumers is more likely to offer instant gratification than to invite independent thought and reflection. But how harmful, if at all, is this unprecedented commercialization of architecture?

Framed with a provocative introduction by Kenneth Frampton, the contributions to "Commodification and Spectacle in Architecture" stake out a variety of positions in the debate over the extent to which it is possible - or desirable - to escape from, resist, or suggest plausible alternatives to the dominant culture of consumer capitalism. Rejecting any dreamy nostalgia for an idealized present or past in which design is completely divorced from commerce - and, in some cases, celebrating the pleasures of spectacle - the individual essays range from indictments of particular architects and critiques of the profession to broader concerns about what the phenomenon of commodification means for the practice of democracy and the health of society. Bringing together an impressive and varied group of critics and practitioners, "Commodification and Spectacle in Architecture" will help to sharpen the discussion of how design can respond to our hyper-commodified culture.