Ep.11 Is it Moronic? Or is it Inspired?

We dive headfirst into what Chilean architect Daniela Monsalvez roughly coined "archi-moronic" architecture—the growing trend of modern structures that seem to prioritize short internet attention spans and pure outrageousness over functional logic. Are starchitects simply pushing the boundaries of what is possible, or have we entered an era of gimmicky gymnastics that literally leaves some of us feeling visually a bit queasy? We break down the shift from the traditional, shared design cultures found in old school publications like Progressive Architecture or Architectural Record to the fragmented, hyper-paced world of social media, where a building has to be shocking just to survive a two-minute scroll. In this episode, we discuss: The "archi-moronic" Shift: How architectural jargon, critiquing mumbo jumbo , and shorter attention spans are driving increasingly bizarre cityscapes. The Legacy of True Innovation: Looking back at groundbreaking designs like John Portman's 1967 Hyatt Regency in Atlanta and Arthur Erickson’s poetic Museum of Anthropology to contrast past structural revolutions with modern gymnastics. Bjarke Ingels & The Context Dilemma: Why his striking Manhattan building can feel like a "painful," overwhelming foreign organism , contrasted with his Vancouver House tower—an artful, highly constrained, and acoustically innovative response to a complex highway cloverleaf site. New York's Pencil Towers: The engineering headstands behind Manhattan’s ultra-skinny Billionaires' Row skyscrapers. We explore their astronomical 1:24 slenderness ratios, their aggressive shadows cutting over Central Park, and the wild tech—like massive internal dampers and intentional "missing windows"—used just to keep them standing in howling winds. Is modern architecture losing its sanity to satisfy napkin sketches, or are engineers brilliantly solving the impossible problems created by developers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! ________________________________________ Buildings and architects mentioned in this episode: Chaoyang Park Plaza, Beijing (MAD Architects, 2017) Îlot Balmoral, Montreal (Provencher_Roy, 2020) VIA 57 West, New York City (Bjarke Ingels Group, 2016) Vancouver House, Vancouver (Bjarke Ingels Group, 2016) Habitat 67, Montreal (Moshe Safdie, 1967) Alberni Street Tower, Vancouver (Kengo Kuma, 2024) Hyatt Regency Hotel, Atlanta (John Portman, 1967) UBC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver (Arthur Erickson, 1976) "The Crystal" at Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (Daniel Libeskind, 2007 111 West 57th Street (Steinway Tower), New York City (SHoP Architects, 2021) 432 Park Avenue, New York City (Rafael Viñoly, 2015) ________________________________________ Hosts: William McLean: Architect-Lawyer, Vancouver; and Luis de Miguel: Architect, Valencia Podcast: Two Architects and a Lawyer Enquiries: [email protected] #Architecture #ModernArchitecture #Starchitect #UrbanPlanning #BjarkeEngels #PencilTowers #SkyscraperEngineering #VancouverHouse #BillionairesRow #ArchitecturalTheory #JohnPortman #ArthurErickson #StructuralEngineering #TwoArchitectsAndALawyer