Quote:
Originally Posted by Table 5
I have no idea what you do for work, but Im going to guess it's not what I do. How would you feel if i came over to your desk and started booing and heckling (this reminds me of Seinfeld now) what you do without knowing anything about your occupation? Wouldn't you want to tell me to fata off and mind my own business because I don't know what I'm talking about?
Buildings are more public than most occupational results and of course invite comment, but the fact that people become insta-architects when they see a building is laughable. There is a level of disrespect towards design in general that needs to stop. I don't pretend to know how to drill an oil well or engineer machinery, so why do people pretend that they know how to design a building.
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As someone who supports the bridge and loves the design, I disagree with this. Architecture, as I'm sure you agree, is a form of art, and one does not need to be a talented artist to be an art critic. Obviously some people have a more refined taste in art and design than others* and are thus more capable of evaluating the artistic merits of a particular piece, but that doesn't mean that one needs to be an expert to offer an opinion.
To put it another way: I'm neither an architect nor an artist, so does that mean I cannot praise the bridge's design because I'm not an expert? Or are only laymen who don't like the piece not qualified to comment on its merits?
*I'm sure some people will argue that the evaluation of all art is inherently subjective and nobody's opinion is any more valid than anyone else's. To that I retort that there are also people who love eating Big Macs, but that doesn't make eating at McDonald's an experience in fine dining.