The problematization of ‘star architecture’ in architecture research

Alaily-Mattar, Nadia; Hall, Joelean; Thierstein, Alain

doi:10.1080/09654313.2021.1889476

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Here, in this article, we narrow the focus to positioning Superstar Museums in global media. For an updated literature review on star architecture, see Alaily-Mattar, Hall, and Thierstein (2021). For the Economics of Museums, see Throsby (1994), Ginsburgh andThrosby (2006) andFernandez-Blanco andPrieto-Rodríguez (2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Superstar Museums and global media exposure: mapping the positioning of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao through networks

Plaza

Amiano

Esteban

2021

European Planning Studies

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Superstar architecture can play a key role in the global positioning of museums in influential mass media, thereby successfully attracting cultural tourism (e.g. the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, GMB). Yet, an evident shortcoming is the mapping of media positioning. The aim of this article is precisely to draw and visualize this positioning of the GMB through networks. Two innovative features characterize this study: first, from a theoretical point of view, it links the debate on Superstar Museums to the broader economic debate on Superstar Economics. Akin to Rosen's hypothesis, in the case of Superstar Museums, the media exposure is concentrated among a handful of museums. In this context, the authors highlight the role of networks. The central nodes in the networks utilized for the study, depict/stand for museums that have the maximum visibility in the international media. The second innovative feature of the article is the analysis of co-citation networks in articles of the New York Times for two periods (1995-2000 and 2014-2019). The network graphs map the results of this article: the GMB positioned itself effectively with its inauguration in 1997. In addition, 20 years later the GMB still remains quite well positioned.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Superstar Museums and global media exposure: mapping the positioning of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao through networks

Plaza

Amiano

Esteban

2021

European Planning Studies

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“…In the last three decades, research on flagship architecture has been mostly concerned with the political economy perspective, while the architectural field has only marginally influenced the discourse (Alaily-Mattar et al, 2022). Iconic buildings are considered key instruments in the neoliberal shift in urban policy-making in growth-oriented regimes (Harvey, 1989).…”

Section: Theoretical Perspectives On Flagship Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This aspect can be clarified by focusing on the typology of the global cultural flagship, such as museums and theatres, the best-known examples being the Sydney opera house and the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao. These buildings attract the attention of policymakers, the mainstream media (Alaily-Mattar et al, 2022), and architectural press (Dovey, 2005) and can ‘arouse public attention, causing disputes and controversies’ (Yaneva, 2009: 8). As many cultural flagships are funded by public money, the usage of funds must be justified (Alaily-Mattar et al, 2018).…”

Section: Theoretical Perspectives On Flagship Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

A performing arts centre for whom? Rethinking the architect as negotiator of urban imaginaries

Goudsmit,

Kaika,

Verloo

2023

Urban Studies

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In this study, we interpret architecture not as a single imaginary stemming from architects and architectural patrons, but as the result of negotiating urban politics and urban imaginaries between different stakeholders, including policymakers, citizens, and developers. We focus in particular on the role of architects within this process as mediators between different stakeholders, who nevertheless have their own specific agenda to pursue. We draw on an empirical case of the Taipei Performing Arts Centre, a cultural flagship project built in Taiwan and designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. Through a review of internal documents, interviews, and content analysis on archival data, we expose the controversy over the integration of the historical ‘low culture’ local food market into the design for the new ‘high culture’ Performing Arts Centre. Although the architects imagined and pursued the integration of the new centre into the existing local culture, both policymakers and local citizens contested this attempt. The study concludes that, despite claims from both policymakers and architects of representing ‘the people’, there were often misunderstandings, deliberate or otherwise, regarding the needs of ‘the people’ or indeed of who ‘the people’ are.

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“…Opened in 1997 as part of a larger urban renewal project, it drastically changed the fortunes of the small Basque city of Bilbao, increasing visitation and overnight stays in the city and bringing in far more revenue than it cost to build (Plaza, 2000(Plaza, , 2006. It also spawned a spree of erecting similarly styled buildings throughout the world, and a body of scholarship dedicated to understanding the effects of similar star architecture projects (for a systematic review of such studies, see Alaily-Mattar et al, 2022;examples include Franklin, 2016;Heuer and Runde, 2021;Lindsay, 2013). The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and its many imitators are examples of iconic architecture being enrolled in the "hard-branding" (Evans, 2003) of cities as destinations for cultural tourism.…”

Section: Arch 172mentioning

confidence: 99%

“You must go here”: architecture, yelp and the tourist gaze

Lindsay

Sawyer

2022

ARCH

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PurposeThe Tourist Gaze has been debated, reimagined and applied to a variety of actors and settings. This paper helps investigate how contemporary architecture operates as subject and participant in gazing practices.Design/methodology/approachUsing Yelp reviews of art museums in a regional US city, a thematic analysis of text reviews and image uploads was conducted.FindingsReviewers do refer to buildings as objects of the gaze; but they also connect their experience of the building to emotions and to actions and use the building to orient themselves spatially. This article demonstrates that contemporary buildings are important components of tourist experiences as objects of the gaze, but also as frames for gazing and as stages for tourist practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe research implications are both topical and methodological: the paper demonstrates that contemporary (neo-modern) architecture is a vibrant avenue of research, and that social networking sites are a promising potential source of data for studying architecture in the social field.Originality/valueThis research uses an underexplored data set, Yelp reviews, to capture what people pay attention to and think others will find interesting about architecture. It also adds important layers to studies on the tourist gaze. First, it emphasizes that architecture is important to tourists not only as an object of the gaze but also as a site for affective experience, action and daily life. Second, it addresses some building styles beyond the historical ones that are foundational to the idea of the tourist gaze.

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The problematization of ‘star architecture’ in architecture research

Cited by 8 publications

References 41 publications

Superstar Museums and global media exposure: mapping the positioning of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao through networks

Superstar Museums and global media exposure: mapping the positioning of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao through networks

A performing arts centre for whom? Rethinking the architect as negotiator of urban imaginaries

“You must go here”: architecture, yelp and the tourist gaze

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