Patrik Schumacher 'In Defense of Stars and Icons'

It's not clear if a particular article by a critic, such as Ellis Woodman (the only one named in the post), gave Schumacher the need to explain how "the denunciation of architectural icons and stars is itself superficial and ignorant," but Hadid's partner is definitely fed up with certain lines of critique that may target Hadid and other celebrity architects.

Though difficult at times to decipher, Schumacher's post places the responsibility of any misunderstanding over starchitecture and architectural icons on the critics: "The idea of iconic architecture is a product of the critics’ discourse that plays no role in the architects’ discourse." Therefore the critic is standing in the way of the broader public's acceptance of "an avant-garde design [that] is an inevitable by-product or side-effect of the new approach taken by the avant-garde architect."

There are plenty of good points to be found it Schumacher's post, much of it a paean to the parametricism he embraces and has written about on Facebook and elsewhere, though I wish (and I can't be alone) that his thoughts were edited before being shared. Regardless, read the whole post below or at Facebook: