Word Spy - architectural myopia

architectural myopia

n. Building design that emphasizes distinctive, attention-getting features over practical concerns or simple aesthetics.

Example Citations:

Have you ever looked at a bizarre building design and wondered, "What were the architects thinking?"...You might be forgiven for thinking "these architects must be blind!" New research shows that in a real sense, you might actually be right....

The phenomenon of "architectural myopia" may also explain the repeated mistakes that architects make in fashioning built environments for others, which turn out to be woefully unsuccessful in what may seem obvious ways to laypeople. Lastly, "architectural myopia" explains the often-disastrous attempts that architects have made to fashion urban schemes for entire neighborhoods and cities.
—Michael Mehaffy and Nikos A. Salingaros, "The Architect Has No Clothes," Guernica, October 19, 2011

Meet the new Belconnen Arts Centre, which reclines gracefully on the shores of Lake Ginninderra....

The state-of-the-art building was designed to serve its purpose the promotion and enjoyment of the arts unfettered by political correctness like the Tuggeranong Arts Centre, which is a slave to wheelchair ramps and architectural myopia.
—"Belconnen's graceful lady of the lake," Canberra Times, August 29, 2009

Earliest Citation:

All three Societies dealt with the particular, for architectural myopia had become a national disease ever since the collapse of urban design a century earlier.
—Lionel Esher, A Broken Wave, Allen Lane, January 1, 1981 (approx)

Notes:

Category:

Housing and Architecture

Posted on November 16, 2011