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ARCHITCCTURAL FORUM THC MAGAZINE OF BUILDING FCBRUARY 1963

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K 3909947 O 3909940

•bra Per 213

P UBUSHER'S NOTE

For yea rs, people imerested in the building ans have complained

that there is no architectural crit­icism-at least none on a par

with literary criticism, theatrical criticism, and art criticism. They

have a poim-up to a point. There has been precious little archi1ectural criticism in the daily press and genera I magazines. The

same might be said of those maga­zines published for architects alone. FoRu,1, on 1he other hand,

is published for architec1s' clients as well as for architects, and it has never shied away from pub­lishing cri1icism of both archi­tects' and clients' contributions 10 finishcd buildings-howevcr painful some of it may have seemed 10 those criticized and 10 some of 1heir confreres. (Sec "Let­ters," page 19, fo r reader rcaction to FoRUM's recent criticism of thc Air Acadcmy Chapel by Archi1ects Skidmorc, Owings & Merrill. )

" Cri1icism" of a bui lding is not synonymous with "panning" a building ( or a book, or a play, or a pain1ing). To FoRuM's edi­lors it mcans lìrst to try to state thc archilcct's intention; next, to

cvalualc how wcll he succceded in cloing wha t hc was trying to

Arohltectural Forum / F e bruary 1963

do; ancl, finally, to do a ll this

while making clear the premise

on which the discussion is based. This scems to be a fair way of

going about it, and it is likely to

produce a '' rave review" quite as

often as a "thumbs-down" verdict.

Moreover, it is a procedure that might help che archi1ect involved,

and other archi1ects-and migh t

help the clients of archi1ects to a better appreciation of architecture.

In their criticism FoRuM's ecli-

1ors have taken on severa! pre11y big guns in the architectural pro­

fession- and severa! big cliem­developers too. Some of those who got the " thumbs-down" treatment happened to be among che editors'

best friends; 01hers who got "raves" were practically unknown

to them. It was 10 be expected 1hat some

rcaders would be criticai of FoRu ,1's recently expanded pro­gram of architectural criticism. 1-Towever, their reaction seen1s a

littlc dangerous to che building arts thcmselves: when there is so much talk about growing con­formism, what could be more con­clucive 10 conformism than lo in­sist 1ha t critics ancl architects join some sort of mutuai admira1ion society? The editors pian to re­main non-members.

Aline Saarinen, a lìrs1-ra 1e architec tural critic in her own righe, clemons1ratcd a few mon1hs ago that she unclcrs1ands the necd for unfc11ered cri1 icism when she sugges1ccl that our edi1ors publish Reyner Banham's advcrsc com­mcnts aboul hcr late husband's clor­mitorics at Va le. (This was clone in thc D cccmber issuc. ) f or 1his suggcstion, FoRUM 's ccl i1o rs think Mrs. Saarinen-10 borrow a supcr­b1ivc from movic criticism-clc­

scrvcs * * * * - J.c. 11 ., Jr.

CANADA'S PLACE VILLE MARIE

,t 16-page report on t he big new center of downtoW11 Montreal

ARCHITECTURE IN THE MOON AGE

Two critica! views o/ where the buildillg art stands today

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

The new Philharmonic halls in Berlin and New York

PARKING: THE CRISIS IS DOWNTOWN

A s·u,·vey of problems and solutions a,·ound the U.S.

Tecl111ology: lhe radical answer o/ a computer-run garage

in New Haven, parlcing gets its own monument of design

SCIENCE FOR SCHOOLBOYS

LJallas school boasts a futur i$tic array of equipment

NEW LIBRARIES

fl'or a N e,vada camp11s, a 1'exas sl,burb, and an Arizona town

REBUILDING

.dn elegant showroom on Pa,"is' Piace des r osges

CIRCLING IN THE SQUARE

Philadelphia's P olice H eadquarlers is striking-and logica/

5 NEWS

19 LETTERS

41 PROIECTS

Cover: Pt'ecast. wall detail, Pbiludelphiu policc Uuilding; !rom n pbotogrnph by Gcorge Cscrnn (sec pngc 120).

20 Editorlnl, subscriptìon. ;11HI ndverLisinE: dntn.

17 I Ad,•crtlsing inde.x.

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47 PRODUCTS

Published monthly by T'liM& l:,.c. Time nnd Lifo Bulldìng, Rockefoller Centcr, New York 20, N.Y.

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