a funny thing happened on the way through the forum archives

This thread isn't without its duds, but those (and cold Hadid dis) aside, this is a very good effort from the Archinect forums on the subject of Celebrity Lookalikes. My mind is reeling imagining an Alvar Aalto biopic starring Abe Vigoda.

googlism

I asked googlism what architecture is. Reply herewith (I italicised the ones I agree with):

architecture is about people
architecture is a major pitfall
architecture is prominent in iowa communites
architecture is interesting and challenging
architecture is the difference
architecture is not a thing
architecture is right for you?
architecture is donnelly & o neill
architecture is required
architecture is not a seismograph
architecture is the will of an epoch translated into space
architecture is a profession on the move
architecture is dead
architecture is a political act
architecture is a political act by lebbeus woods

[Sidenote: If you don't know about Lebbeus Woods, now would be a good time to look him up. He loves Zaha Hadid and says things like "I am the melody." He also sued the producers of Twelve Monkeys for ripping off one of his ideas(!) and worked under Saarinen when he was young. Class act, IMO.]

architecture is the most delightful of all pursuits
architecture is about meeting needs and making lives better
architecture is weird
architecture is breaking down
architecture is the most practical and the most dangerous of the arts
architecture is required for a human
architecture is the art of how to waste space
architecture is the architecture of choice (?)
architecture is the craft of balancing form and function
architecture is the art or science of designing the built environment
architecture is generally considered an art but is differentiated by it in one respect

talking to the textman about architecture

A friend recently told me about Cha Cha, a text messaging service that supposedly provides "free mobile answers" to whatever questions are asked of it. Having decided to test Cha Cha's architectural chops, I started off vague: Q: "What are some prevalent schools of architecture?" Cha Cha's response ran the gamut: "Art Deco, Bauhaus, Victorian, Edwardian, Beaux Arts, Neo Gothic and Romanesque are some of the main architecture styles." Bizarre selections to say the least. Next, I got personal: "Who is the most important architect of all time, in your robotic opinion?" Cha Cha quickly became indignant: "I am not a robot, but here are a few famous architects: Frank Lloyd Wright, Fumihiko Maki, Carlo Scarpa, Alvaro Siza, Aldo Rossi." Wright I expected, but the other four? I was amazed that Cha Cha chose to drop the name Maki in place of Gaudi, Gehry, or Le Corbusier. Impressed, I got specific and requested the phonetic pronunciation of the latter: "Le Kor-Boo-Zya is the phonetic pronunciation of Le Corbusier. [note: it isn't.] Thanks for using Cha Cha today!"

(Maki, yesterday.)