Law in Contemporary Society

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AlexLawrence-SecondPaper 9 - 21 Jan 2009 - Main.IanSullivan
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 More than any other form of art, architecture requires cash. Especially at the level of large urban architecture, no architect has the means to build for themselves their dream project. Moreover, while architecture is art, and architects artists, the buildings that they produce are often businesses. In the modern age buildings are branded. They are symbols of power, success, and the ability to literally change the face of a city, and, accordingly, few and far between are projects where an architect is given total free reign. However, this does not mean that great buildings cannot still be built here in New York and the United States. Some of the greatest and most enduring monuments of our city were built by corporations and developers who wanted to declare their strength and prominence to the world. So how do we account for the relative blandness of what is being built around us today?

In 1928 William Van Alen designed one of the most consciously branded and yet most successful skyscrapers in the world. His Chrysler Building is adorned with gargoyles and flairs that were designed to mimic the hood ornaments and radiator caps of Chrysler cars in order to link the building to, and please, Walter Chrysler and his company. Similarly, Lever House and the Seagram Building, which form the nexus of urban skyscraper modernism, were daring when they were built and have turned out to be important and much imitated turning points in 20th century architecture. However, by the same token, Phillip Johnson's tacky Chippendale armoire/skyscraper that he built to similarly show off the puissance of AT&T is not nearly as important or successful, and, thankfully, has not had the same kind of impact.


Revision 9r9 - 21 Jan 2009 - 22:53:48 - IanSullivan
Revision 8r8 - 16 Jun 2008 - 12:38:09 - AlexLawrence
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