Book Review: Commodification and Spectacle in Architecture

Commodification and Spectacle in Architecture edited by William S. Saunders, published by University of Minnesota Press, 2005. (Amazon)

Certainly living needs, as opposed to desires, demand to be met but surely not in such a way as to ruin the world for generations yet unborn.

Thus ends Kenneth Frampton's introduction to a collection of essays previously published in Harvard Design Magazine. But while Frampton clearly expresses the need to balance capitalism with sustainable foresight, it's a point of view that's altogether missing from an otherwise strong collection of critical writing. The targets of the ten essays range from the obvious (Las Vegas, Michael Graves @ Target) to the less so (a villa by OMA). Not surprisingly it is Rem Koolhaas who makes the most appearances, his Harvard Guide to Shopping acting as a sort of manifesto for architecture and capitalism, though here we find more criticism than regurgitation of his ideas. In addition to the range of subjects, there is a range of stances towards architecture and commodity, some authors embracing it (none more than Kevin Ervin Kelley, partner in an "an atypical design firm with a focus on leveraging consumer perceptions") but more often they question the validity of architecture when it exists only as a means for spending and creating wealth.

This reader is the first of an anticipated three (Sprawl and Suburbia and Urban Planning Today forthcoming).