Content area
Full Text
Santiago Calatrava, Renzo Piano, Rem Koolhaas, Tadao Ando, Norman Foster, Fumihiko Maki and Jose Rafael Moneo--to name only seven. When it comes to designer labels, made in the U.S.A. is wearing thin and imports are the fashion.
"It's the pattern now," says Bill Lacy, executive director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and a professional advisor to owners seeking architects. "If you want the best, you should spread your net as widely as possible," he tells his clients.
Owners say nationality has nothing to do with the choice of architect. "In many ways, Calatrava's presentation best matched the goals and aspirations of our community," says Tom Tomlinson, project director for the Atlanta Symphony Center.
Atlanta's High Museum of Art, designed by Richard Meier, picked Piano for its expansion, but not because he is from Italy. "Everyone loves the Richard Meier museum," says Marjorie Henry, the High's director of architectural planning and design. But with Genoa-based Piano, "we are getting another great master," she adds.
In New York City, the Morgan Library also selected Piano, after it rejected three New York City-based designers, because he is "a gifted modernist capable of working in different styles plus he is respectful of different contexts," says Charles E. Pierce Jr., the library's director.
And Marla Price, director of the Modern Museum of Art in Fort Worth, Texas, says the museum picked Tokyo-based Ando because he had the most "breathtaking concept," not because he is Japanese.
If it all boils down to the best, then the question becomes "Why is there so much high-quality architecture outside U.S. borders?" The usual answer is that in the U.S., architecture is business and buildings are a commodity. In European and Japanese cultures, architecture is revered as an art form.
But not everyone accepts the premise that Europe and Japan are better breeders of "starchitects." "There are plenty of good U.S. designers," chorus a gaggle of architects, adding that they are often more appreciated abroad than in their own backyard.
Some see the foreign influx as an inevitable reaction to American exports. "The worm has turned," says Robert A.M. Stern, of the New York City-based firm that bears his name and also the dean of Yale University's School of Architecture.
They also see the trend...