Burning Down The House
Style Versus Fashion
Welcome to another installment of Burning Down the House, your weekly source for architecture and design discussion. On this week's episode, Curtis B. Wayne talks about his recent review of Viollet-le-Duc's critical book, Discourses on Architecture, and how le-Duc outlines efficiency, form, and function. Curtis ponders the idea of a secession from formalism due to some of these ideas. Hear Curtis read from the sixth of the Discourses on Architecture. The selection focuses on the difference between style and fashion in the case of copper vases (see figures below). Tune in to hear how the writings of le-Duc are still relevant in the architectural realm, and why there is a need to increase the architectural literacy of the public today. This episode has been brought to you by White Oak Pastures.
"That kind of architectural criticism [in the style of Nicolai Ouroussoff] doesn't really cut it anymore because at it's highest level, architecture has become even more complicated than ever before."
-- Curtis B. Wayne on Burning Down the House