Function over Form
Architecture of the Absurd by John Silber
Click here to watch John Silber on BUniverse.
John Silber, president emeritus of Boston University, discusses his new book, Architecture of the Absurd: How “Genius” Disfigured a Practical Art. Silber takes many of today’s best-known architects, such as Frank Gehry, to task for designing buildings that emphasize form over function. He uses images of some of Gehry’s work, including the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Stata Center at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., as examples of impractical construction, but he also includes images of buildings that he considers both whimsical and practical, such as Antonio Gaudi’s Casa Batllo in Barcelona and Jorn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House. Silber also discusses several projects built or renovated under his supervision at Boston University, including Metcalf Hall in the George Sherman Union.
Silber implicates the businesses and individuals that hire “starchitects,” as he calls them, as well, saying that institutional clients have a responsibility to hire architects who take a practical approach to design. “Architecture of the absurd is flourishing because of the debasement, inexperience, and supine gullibility of the clients,” Silber says. “The cure is to read Hans Christian Andersen’s insightful fairy tale ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes.’ The client, not the architect, is the emperor, for it is he who is mocked when architects forget their function: as practical artists in partnership with clients whose views are worthy of respect and whose economic resources are not to be exceeded.”
December 4, 7 p.m.
Barnes and Noble at BU
About the speaker:
John Silber was the seventh president of Boston University and served from 1971 until 1996, when he became chancellor of BU. He is a University Professor, a College of Arts and Sciences professor of philosophy, and a School of Law professor of law. An expert in the work of Immanuel Kant, Silber holds a doctorate from Yale University. He is the author of Straight Shooting: What’s Wrong with America and How to Fix It and has published in the Philosophical Quarterly, Kant-Studien, the Philosophical Review, and the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society.
During his tenure as president of BU, Silber (Hon.’95) oversaw a building program that generated 13.7 million square feet of new or renovated space. In 2002, he was named an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects.
Comments & Discussion
Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.