Danny Lyon – First We Kill The Architects

October 9, 2007 · Filed Under Architecture Humour · Comment
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Found this interesting article at NY Times Online.

In the past, designing cities was the job of emperors and kings, and when Danny Lyon was asked to help design a city, he was flattered. Recently came up with 10 suggestions for New York City.

1. First we kill the architects.
2. Then we burn the malls. (Following Alexander’s example, we spare the bookstores and movie theaters, as he spared Pindar’s house and library when he burned Thebes).

Full resolution of the image below

First We Kill The Architects Danny Lyon
Image Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company.

Danny Lyon, an incredible photographer who has made unforgettable images of, among other things: biker gangs, Texas penitentiaries, the Civil Rights movement, and demolition in Lower Manhattan in the ’60s.

I like points #4 and #5, and I can’t imagine living in a city without a mall, so am not quite sure about burning down the malls on point #2 though.

Danny Lyon mention that, in the past, designing cities was the job of emperors and kings. I wonder, could this be the reason why most architects think highly of themselves, and believe that they are somewhere high above the occupation pyramid.

Anyway, the article above never illustrate how to go about killing these architects, based on my working experience, the only way to kill an architect is – shout: “Your design sucks!”, yes, harsh presentation critics, straight to the heart.

My ex-boss was kind of sad when he found out that the big boss of X company said: “The design lacks creativity, get me a real architect!” Ouch! So much for society and mankind.