Imagine this, you’re ten years old, sitting in social studies. Your teacher tells you to open up your textbook to page two hundred something and read the chapter quietly. You get to the end, and there in a tiny blurb at the bottom, is a photo of Falling Water, and a little about the architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Wait a second, you think. Drawing houses…is a job?? For about a year now you had been drawing your friends’ dream houses in your notebook with the little dog on the front. People do this for a living? From that day forward, you said you wanted to be an architect.
Later, you realize Falling Water is only three hours away, and in middle school you take a road trip with your dad to finally see it. Yeah, this is what I want to do with my life.
The Reality: Starchitects Do Not Define the Profession
Eighteen years later, you have your degrees, you have the job, and it’s not what you thought. You don’t want to design houses in this economy, but you never wanted to design skyscrapers either. You want to build schools and hospitals, buildings that help people and make an impact.
You start to understand your chances of becoming a household name of starchitect fame, isn’t reality. And that’s okay. Starchitects do not define the profession, yet they often introduce it.
How many other people out there have had a similar experience? Discovering a certain architect, and wanting to do what they do? Starchitects, as they are often referred to, can be people’s first experience with “architecture.”
What is a starchitect?
A “starchitect” combines “star” and “architect” and *surprise* is a term used to refer to famous architects. They are celebrity-like, in that even if you don’t study architecture, you might have heard of them. Oftentimes, they are famous for a very particular style or have a signature brand and look to their designs.
One of the earliest examples is Frank Lloyd Wright, with not only his buildings and houses becoming well known, but his personal life as well. Others can include Zaha Hadid, Le Corbusier, and Frank Gehry to name a very select few.
Frank Gehry “Starchitect”
For example, Frank Gehry is often a name that comes up when referencing starchitects. Which is ironic, because apparently he didn’t like being referred to as such. But what is it that makes him such a good and common example?
Celebrity status
His name is well-known by others, even if you never studied architecture. Popular culture features many of his buildings. Like his Walt Disney Concert Hall, an important building in Los Angeles and home to the LA Philharmonic. But, in my opinion, the ultimate proof of his celebrity status? He appeared as himself on the cartoon The Simpsons.
Brand
His buildings are recognizable. If you have seen one before, you’re likely to recognize another one of his buildings out in the wild. Even when writing this post I was thinking to myself, I know I saw the Gehry building when I visited Cambridge, but didn’t I see another building of his? I think when I lived in Ohio, one of the many times I visited Cleveland? I dug through my photos folder and lo and beyond found photos of the Gehry building from Case Western Reserve University.
I could picture these buildings in my mind, the swirling, folding, metallic roof shapes. His brand, his architectural style is recognizable and made an impression on me. It’s not something every architect does, and that’s what sets him and his work apart. Ultimately giving him that starchitect status.
Bilbao Effect
This often comes up in conversations about starchitects, and since this phenomena came from one of his buildings, I think it’s important to mention here. Bilbao, Spain, before Frank Gehry arrived was a much smaller city. Gehry does his thing and designs the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and suddenly the city is thriving! His building becomes a landmark driving visitors from around the world, boosting Bilbao’s economy, hence the name, the Bilbao Effect.
The Impact of the Starchitect Stereotype
Starchitects are not only the subject of architectural history classes, but theory as well. Such as, what is the impact they have on the profession?
Starchitect Pros:
Due to their celebrity-like status and viewership outside of the architecture world, they can be recognized and create buzz around the profession. Starchitects are seen out in public, in the media. It allows everyday people to stop and think about architecture and how it affects them. Architecture is everywhere, and maybe through the lens of a starchitect, someone is truly seeing it for the first time.
Like I mentioned previously, starchitects are often associated with their branding and styles. People have strong opinions on aesthetics, and the fame of starchitects can allow these conversations on architecture to come to the forefront. It allows our profession to hear voices from the outside. And the more diversity in the field the better.
Starchitect Cons:
On the flip side, to the outside world, it may seem that architecture solely consists of starchitects. However, that’s not the case. It’s not the way the majority of the profession works. There are all different types and sizes of firms. You have the big names, those that maybe are associated with starchitects, but also the smaller ones that aren’t.
In addition, it’s very rare that a singular person designs a full building by themselves. Making buildings is a team sport. Different architects as well as structural and mechanical engineers, contractors, specialists, and many more people all work together to create the spaces we live in.
Conclusion
Above all, starchitects can be a great “gateway” into architecture. It gets people to know the names, know the styles, and know what’s possible in this field.
Starchitects will come and go, as there will always be famous people in any profession for that matter. I think it’s important to remember that you can have many professional goals in this career. To become a famous starchitect is not the only measure of success. In the end, designing working, safe, accessible, human centric buildings rather, should be the focus. We don’t do this profession alone, as many people are behind many buildings.
What do you think about starchitects, do they help or hurt the profession? Do you have a favorite who maybe got you interested in architecture? Tell me below!