Episode 697: Reinier de Graaf - architect, verb.: The New Language of Building

Published: Feb. 27, 2023, 5:29 p.m.

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The Hidden Rules of Architecture: how to build world-class, award winning, creative, innovative, sustainable, livable and beautiful spaces that foster a sense of place and well being

Leading architect Reinier de Graaf De Graaf punctures the myths behind the debates on what contemporary architecture is, with wit and devastating honesty. Architecture, it seems, has become too important to leave to architects. No longer does it suffice to judge a building solely by its appearance, it must be measured, and certified. When architects talk about \\u201cExcellence,\\u201d \\u201cSustainability,\\u201d \\u201cWell-being,\\u201d \\u201cLivability,\\u201d \\u201cPlacemaking,\\u201d \\u201cCreativity,\\u201d \\u201cBeauty\\u201d and \\u201cInnovation\\u201d what do they actually mean?

In architect, verb. De Graff dryly skewers the doublespeak and hot air of an industry in search of an identity in the 21st century. Who determines how to measure a \\u201cgreen building\\u201d? Why is Vancouver more \\u201cliveable\\u201d than Vienna? How do developers get away with advertising their buildings as promoting \\u201cwell-being\\u201d? Why did Silicon Valley become so obsessed with devising \\u201ccreative\\u201d spaces or developing code that replaces architects? How much revenue can be attributed to the design of public space? Who gets to decide what these measurements should be, and what do they actually mean? And what does it mean for the future of our homes, cities, planet?

He also includes a biting, satirical dictionary of \\u201cprofspeak\\u201d: the corporate language of consultants, developers and planners from \\u201cActive listening\\u201d to \\u201cZoom Readiness.\\u201d

Reinier de Graaf (1964, Schiedam) is a Dutch architect and writer. He is a partner in the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), where he leads projects in Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Reinier is the co-founder of OMA\\u2019s think-tank AMO and Sir Arthur Marshall Visiting Professor of Urban Design at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of Four Walls and a Roof: The Complex Nature of a Simple Profession and the novel The Masterplan.\\xa0

Buy the book from Wellington Square Bookshop - \\u200b
https://wellingtonsquarebooks.indiecommerce.com/book/9781839761911

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