By Edwin Heathcote
Published: May 22 2007 11:57 | Last updated: May 22 2007 11:57
Modern architecture and urbanism is connecting with the public more.
Nevertheless, it is artists – rather than architects – who are achieving
this. They somehow manage to illuminate a moment, a fragment, a glimpse
of urban existence that has the power to touch and move us.
That transformative power makes art valuable and allows it to add value.
The case for good architecture is increasingly made. Fine buildings make
people happier and more efficient. This can be measured.
But, despite the huge popularity of modern art, of contemporary
galleries, of celebrity artists from Banksy to Tracey Emin, there
remains a kind of fear about commissioning art, a fear of the unknown,
of embarrassing ourselves, of the creation of an unpopular work.
That fear is simply a lack of confidence, a schism between the language
of the worlds of art and commerce and that insecurity is a 21st century
problem.
cont'd....
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/071efe0e-07a2-11dc-9541-000b5df10621.html