Legocentrism

Abstract

Among discernable trends in contemporary architecture, a salient one continues to be what might be called a “building-block” aesthetic. Despite radical increases in the efficiency of buildings – from the digital modeling that makes new modes of structural engineering possible to the LEED certificates that ratify credentials of environmental soundness – we seem, in the midst of these advances, to be witnessing an almost regressive aesthetic in the design of the buildings themselves. But what are the sources, meanings, and prospects for a contemporary look that appears to court nostalgia? Of course, as with so many things, we may be unable to see what lies before us: that these structures do, in fact, resemble a child’s playthings. Yet, to what end? In this essay, I take a closer look at some of these building-block buildings with an eye toward assessing and suggesting a reading of their significance.

Keywords:

• Architecture
• building blocks
• children’s toys
• psychology of design
• 9/11
• post-9/11 construction
• play
• nostalgia
• catastrophe

Notes

1. The present essay formed the impetus for a subsequently co-curated exhibition and installation – “Homo Ludens: The Architecture of Play” – mounted in the School of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University in the Fall of 2016, which was made possible by a competitive grant awarded by the Cornell Council for the Arts, and through collaboration with Mark Morris.