Starchitect: The Latest Architecture and News

In May this year, The Centre Pompidou in Paris will debut the largest retrospective of Norman Foster's work from the past six decades. The exhibition spans nearly 2,200 square meters, exploring the various phases of the renowned architect’s career. Essential works including the Hong Kong and Shanghai Baking Corporation's headquarters (Hong Kong, 1979–1986), the Carré d'Art (Nîmes, 1984–1993), the Hong Kong International Airport (1992–1998), and the Apple Park (Cupertino, United States, 2009-2017) will be on display.

Foster + Partners, the Norman Foster Foundation, and Norman Foster are working to develop and execute the full retrospective. Through the lenses of the seven chosen themes: Nature and Urbanity, Skin and Bones, Vertical City, History and Tradition, Planning and Location, Networks and Mobility, and Future, the exhibition is set to become a full compilation of the architect’s work.

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Monograph recently released a data-driven starchitect ranking to show how popular famous architects are. Created by digital product designer Moe Amaya and Monograph's data team, the project utilizes the STAR system ranking algorithm to determine the relative popularity and value of an architect's brand.

In an industry-affiliated overshadowed by the so-called ‘starchitects’, do we really know who is dominating in the field of architecture? Often it is found that for most of the projects bearing the big names, there are the firms assuming the roles of “executive architect” that work behind the scenes to enable the high-profile buildings to get through planning and construction.

To give us insight into which architecture practices actually have the most impact across in New York City, The Real Deal have compiled a list of the 30 firms with the highest square footage of new buildings across the five boroughs over a six-year period from the 1st of January 2012 until the 31st of January 2018. There are of course many of the firms that you would expect, although as you will see there are also a few that have gone under the radar so far and may be worth watching out for in the future...

New York Magazine asked some of New York City’s distinguished architects how they would improve the city and save it from climate change. NY Mag reported on their findings.

The idea of “star architects” or “starchitects” is, if nothing else, polemic. Frank Gehry has expressed his hatred for being labeled with the term, and in 2013 we received a letter from a reader urging us to ban the phrase as it “undermines serious discourse regarding architecture and urbanism.” Now, the “starchitect” debate has reached the opinion section of the New York Times.

Following recent comments by Witold Rybczynski that “starchitects” -- often unfamiliar with the cities they are designing for -- are designing buildings that don’t fit into their surroundings, the NYT has posed the question: Are superstar architects ruining city skylines? Weighing in on the topic are Allison Arieff, an architecture and design writer for the NYT, Vishaan Chakrabarti, an associate professor at Columbia and a partner at SHoP Architects, Angel Borrego Cubero, a Madrid-based architect, and the director and producer of "The Competition," a documentary about architectural competitions, and Beverly Willis of the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation.