In a feature for Co.Design, writer Karrie Jacobs attempts to demystify Santiago Calatrava, the Spanish starchitect known for his dramatic white winged structures and "hated" for his massively over-budget undertakings. Speaking to the architect himself, Jacobs asks Calatrava why he thinks he's getting such bad press, to which Calatrava responded: "There is so much vulgarity in the everyday, that when somebody has the pretension to do something extraordinary for the community, then you have to suffer."
When discussing specifically the high-profile cost overruns on his World Trade Center Transportation Hub project, Calatrava blames a "global problem," explaining that the new Freedom Tower, 9/11 memorial and museum all went wildly over budget. But the author defends the architect from a different standpoint: Calatrava, who dares to deliver "grand aesthetic gestures", or "architecture as an art form," is an easy target in a world that she deems is increasingly fixated on things like LEED certifications, processes that focus on aggregating as many calculated, pragmatic design moves as possible. Read the piece in full over at Co.Design.
· Santiago Calatrava: The World's Most Hated Architect? [Co.Design]
· All Santiago Calatrava posts [Curbed National]
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