The popularity of deconstructivist architecture around the world has invited controversy over the sensationalist design of these buildings. New urbanists, in particular, have criticized decon architecture as alienating and disorienting. From a historical perspective, this opposition between deconstructivists and new urbanists is the latest in a long line of debates over what constitutes “good design.” Using a political-economy approach based on the work of Karl Polanyi, this article examines a centuries-long dialectic in design ideology between those who seek to embed design in social mores and those who attempt to “disembed” it from oppressive discourses. This analysis shows that the dialectic of design movements is intimately connected to the development of capitalist markets.
Bunns, J. (1980). The aesthetics of British mercantilism. New Literary History, 11(2), 303-321.
2.
Duany, A. (2004, April). Slouching towards modernism. Metropolis, pp. 84-86.
3.
Evans, G. (2003). Hard-branding the cultural city—From Prado to Prada. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 22(2), 417-440.
4.
Florida, R. (2002). The rise of the creative class. New York: Basic Books.
5.
Gómez, M. (1998). Reflective images: The case of urban regeneration in Glasgow and Bilbao. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 22(1), 106-121.
6.
Harvey, D. (1990). The condition of postmodernity. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
7.
Jameson, F. (1995). Postmodernism, or, the cultural logic of late capitalism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
8.
Jencks, C. (1999). Ecstatic architecture. West Sussex, UK: Academy Editions.
9.
Jenkins, B. (2005). Toronto's cultural renaissance. Canadian Journal of Communication, 30(1), 1-18.
10.
Koolhaas, R., & Mau, B. (1995). S, M, L, XL. New York: The Monacelli Press.
11.
Koolhass, R., & Whiting, S. (1999). A conversation between Rem Koolhaas and Sarah Whiting. Assemblage, 40, 36-55.
12.
Lazzeretti, L. (2003). City of art as a high cultural local system and cultural districtualization processes: The cluster of art restoration in Florence. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 27(3), 635-648.
13.
Le Corbusier. (1987). The decorative art of today. London: Architectural Press.
14.
Levine, M. (2003). Tourism-based redevelopment and the fiscal crisis of the city: The case of Montreal. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 12(1), 102-122.
15.
Lubbock, J. (1995). The tyranny of taste: The politics of architecture and design in Britain 1550-1960. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
16.
Lyotard, J. F. (1997). Domus and the megalopolis. In Neil Leach (Ed.), Rethinking architecture. New York: Routledge.
17.
Marshall, R. (2003). Emerging urbanity: Global urban projects in the Asia Pacific Rim.London: Spon Press.
18.
McLeod, M. (1989). Architecture and politics in the Reagan era: From postmodernism to deconstructivism. Assemblage, 8, 22-59.
19.
Olds, K. (2001). Globalization and urban change: Capital, culture, and Pacific Rim mega-projects. New York: Oxford University Press.
20.
Plaza, B. (1999). The Guggenheim-Bilboa Museum effect: A reply to María V. Gómez’ “ Reflective images: The case of urban regeneration in Glasgow and Bilbao.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 23(3), 589-592.
21.
Polanyi, K. (1944). The great transformation: The political and economic origins of our time. Boston: Beacon.
22.
Ruskin, J. (1890). Unto this last: Four essays on the first principles of political economy. London: G. Allen.
23.
Rybczynski, W. (2002). Bilbao effect: Public competitions for architectural commissions don't necessarily produce the best buildings. Atlantic Monthly, 290(2), 138-142.
24.
Salingaros, N. (2003). The Derrida virus. Telos, 126, 66-82.
25.
Scott, A. (1996). The craft, fashion and cultural-products industries of Los Angeles: Competitive dynamics and policy dilemmas in a multi-sectoral image-producing complex. The Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 86, 306-333.
26.
Storper, M., & Christopherson, S. (1987). Flexible specialization and regional industrial agglomerations: The case of the US motion-picture industry. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 77, 260-282.
27.
Vidler, A. (2003). Deconstruction boom. Artforum International, 42(4), 33-33.
28.
Wood, E. M. (1997). Modernity, postmodernity or capitalism?Review of International Political Economy, 4(3), 539-560.
29.
Zukin, S. (2001). How to create a culture capital: Reflections on urban markets and places. In Iwona Blazwick (Ed.), Century city: Art and culture in the modern metropolis(pp. 258-265). London: Tate Publishing.
