Bird’s Nest Blues

Kriston Capps takes a look at China’s cool new Olympics-related buildings through the lens of history and finds that the results are usually unhappy — giant expenditures on starchitect stadiums almost invariably wind up being something that host cities come to regret.

I would add that oftentimes the quest for architectural gems comes at the expense of giving due consideration to the overall urban scheme — when you’re maximizing the “looks good on a wide angle television shot” factor, it’s hard to balance other priorities that go into making something a livable urban area. Conversely, the Verizon Center in DC is a completely undistinguished building in terms of architecture but melds in a nice, functional way to a surprising degree with the surrounding urban area. As a consequence, its construction has really helped transform its vicinity into the city’s most vital retail and entertainment district. That’s by no means impossible consistent with the aspiration to do great architecture, but it involves considerations that I think too often get left out when people decide to reach for the architectural stars.