David Galenson, the University of Chicago economist who has written on the difference between conceptual (read: young) and pragmatic (that is, older) creatives, has a new paper on architects at the National Bureau of Economic Research (via Freakonomics):
A survey of textbooks reveals that Le Corbusier was the greatest architect of the twentieth century, followed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The same evidence shows that the greatest architects alive today are Frank Gehry and Renzo Piano. Scholars have long been aware of the differing approaches of architects who have embraced geometry and those who have been inspired by nature, but they have never compared the life cycles of these two groups. The present study demonstrates that, as in other arts, conceptual architects have made their greatest innovations early in their careers, whereas experimental architects have done their most important work late in their lives. Remarkably, the experimentalists Le Corbusier and Frank Gehry designed their greatest buildings after the age of 60, and Frank Lloyd Wright designed his after 70.
I recently had dinner with Gehry who is designing our new building for the Art Galley of Ontario and someone asked him who were his favorite younger architects. He hesitated. I remember thinking at the time: architects only become successful after fairly long careers. He then hesitatingly responded: “Rem Koolhaus and Zaha Hadid.” They still have plenty of time to join the rank of star-chitects
August 15th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Rem is 64, Zaha is 58. I know that Gehry’s old, but come on. Even Santiago Calatrava is younger than those two, and he’s nobody’s idea of a young architect. Gehry can do better than that. David Adjaye?
August 15th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
There’s an interesting discussion going on in one of the Portland newspapers about why the buildings architects admire are different from the ones the public likes. Using textbooks to define “greatest” biases the results towards the “experts”. If you ask 100 Americans, half will know Wright, less than 5% will have heard of Le Corbusier or van der Rohe — or Gehry for that matter. You often see the words “Frank Lloyd Wright inspired” in magazines and real estate ads, generally referring to the Prarie houses he did in his 30’s. In terms of innovation the floating foundation of the Imperial Hotel, maybe the only Western-designed building to survive the 1923 Tokyo earthquake, was a conceptual breakthrough when Wright was in his 40’s.
Then there’s fashion. The great California architect Julia Morgan (Hearst Castle) burned all of her papers when she retired in the 1950’s because everything was going to the stark International style and she thought nobody would be interested. If only she had lived into the late 1960’s and seen the return of the Victorian and Craftsman.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
I agree with Felix Salmon! David Adjaye is the most innovative and “in tune” young architect working. I have to wonder if Gehry (or Florida) even knows who he is.
August 16th, 2008 at 11:35 am
“A survey of textbooks reveals that Le Corbusier was the greatest architect of the twentieth century, followed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The same evidence shows that the greatest architects alive today are Frank Gehry and Renzo Piano.”
Aren’t we confusing “greatness” with “popularity”? There is a herd mentality, even among researchers and academics. How many times have we seen brilliant artists (of all types) shunned and ridiculed during their lifetime but revered later for their genius?
Meanwhile, keepers of the status quo are celebrated in their lifetime exactly for that which later condemns their legacy, which is, highly refined and polished mediocrity.
I’ll call this the “Salari Effect.”
The challenge for all of us is to look deep inside ourselves, past all the hyperbole, to draw our own conclusions.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:47 am
Wow, that’s kind of a pathetic response from Ghery… (and of course he certainly knows who David Adjaye is). I wonder if he just didn’t want to get into it.
Koolhaas is definitely a contemporary, and both He and Hadid have won the Pritzker prize, which sort of confirms one as a great living architect. He’s got a chance to help the lay public discover a great new architect and he bunts.
What about Teddy Cruz, or Ma Qingyun, or UN Studio, or any number of young Dutch or Spanish designers.
It’s like Madonna being asked who a great young musician is, and saying Michael Jackson.