I ask because I went along to the Barbican Debate last night. Discussing 'Ethics in Architecture' Charles Jencks, the leading critic and sometime designer made the following comment in reference to architechture in Isreal - in particular the responsibility of architechts for the building of the Isreali settlements on the West bank,
Now personally I found this an astonishing statement, what do you think?"There is less ethics (in architecture) in Isreal today than in Nazi Germany in the 30's"
3 comments:
A disgusting statement - YES
A surprising statement considering the anti-semitism flourishing in British academia and media world - NO
Let me guess - no one told Charles Jencks to shut up and reconsider his remarks? No one - except yourself - thought that those remarks were remarkable at all?
Israel (note spelling) and Jews in general have very few friends among the good and mighty in Britain these days.
It's an interesting statement linguistically. I don't know what it means, and I suspect that, intrinsically, it doesn't mean very much at all, but pragmatically it allows the speaker to identify himself with the contextually orthodox in what he doubtless imagines to be a sophisticated manner.
What it tells the rest of us is that he is almost certainly an extreme leftwing buffoon.
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