“Curious…Is Phil Berger a licensed architect?
Or a licensed developer?
I highly doubt Blair Kamin would concur with Mr. Berger on this one. Saying that they should look more like the development at Lake and Morgan!? That they look Disney-esque?! Now the buildings on May St. between Lake & Randolph with the horse statues atop the pilasters…now those look disney-esque. Not these.
Is he serious?! The development at Lake & Morgan has exposed CMU block on all sides! At least these buildings on Fulton have some character and attention was given to brick masonry detail.
But maybe Mr. Berger is right…a more suitable building with absolutely no attention to detail that is completely void from protrusions, reliefs, masonry accents or other architectural detail would’ve been much nicer here.”
— ML’s comment on our video post in which architecture critic Phil Berger expresses disappointment in the design of new live-work spaces on Fulton Market
All you need to get a developer license is a photo ID and $250. Hard to understand what this would add to the weight of someone’s criticism.
It takes a bit more to get an architect’s license, but all you need to do is look at what many architects produce to know that good taste isn’t required for licensure.
Do we know – or care – whether Blair Kamin is licensed?
I find it silly that ‘Architecture Critics’ are almost never actually licensed architects.
Why should we be subjected to listening to their design and aesthetic comments if they don’t know how to design a building themselves professionally?
A bit more to get an architect’s license? I’d say the years of schooling and testing required to become AIA registered is more significant than $250 and a photo ID.
Gordy,
I was saying that tongue-in-cheek.
Stokes,
You’re saying that tongue-in-cheek, right?
Stokes – for the same reason that some of the best former athletes make some of the worst sportscasters, some of the greatest writers make some of the worst literary critics, etc.
Producing architecture and writing well about it don’t necessarily entail the same skill set.
Actually, academic credentials are much more important if you want to be an architecture critic. Licensure is probably largely irrelevant for someone who just writes about architecture, though experience in the field could add some perspective, I suppose.
By the way, the AIA does not license architects. It is only a professional organization, similar to the AMA, etc. They do only allow professional licensed architects to be full-fledged members (vs. “Associate AIA” for non-licensed architects), so someone with AIA after their name is definitely licensed SOMEWHERE, but not necessarily in Illinois. And not all licensed architects belong to the AIA. The state licenses architects, and an organization called NCARB exists to bring some parity and reciproicity between different state licensure boards.
Requiring a license would at least shut Prince Charles up. I can’t see any other argument for doing so.
I’ve always though that Kamin was/is a worthy successor to Paul Gapp.
Kamin graduated from Yale with a masters degree from the architecture school in Environmental Design.
He is originally from New Jersey. YO, Blair.
http://www.pulitzer.org/year/1999/criticism/bio/