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From: Architexturez-IN <admin-in@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:21:30 +0530
| and dare we say the Acrobat is a loaded word?
| exactly what is this guy's point? any idea?
The Times’s longtime architecture critic breaks his silence and reveals
what compelled him to come forward with his allegations, how high up the
conspiracy goes, and what (or who) is the “Bilbao-12.”
....
In your letter of resignation/suicide note you make numerous references
to the “Bilbao-12.” Can you ex-plain what this was?
The Bilbao-12 was an “informal” meeting of twelve of the top
architecture critics that took place just prior to the opening of the
Guggenheim. Due to pending legal actions, I’m unable to reveal any names
except to say that the meeting was also attended by a high-ranking
deputy from the World Bank, an economic adviser from the UN, and a
Washington lobbyist from the aluminum and titanium industries. The case
was made for using architecture to revitalize the economies of
postindustrial cities by establishing a brotherhood of “superstar”
architects who would generate spectacles bolstered by our reviews,
creating “architourism,” or what has become known today as the “Bilbao
Effect.” I should mention that we were also handed a list of complex
words and terminologies that we were encouraged to use in our writings
in the hope that they would find their way into the architectural
vernacular, thereby confusing the public and allowing the acrobats to
pass through board hearings with minimal opposition. '
cont'd....
http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=3206