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Originally Posted by slide_rule
^i'd take these rankings with a grain of salt. it's a measure of the firms' street cred. unfortunately perceptions of architecture in general, and starchitecture in particular, are subjective and subject to the vagaries of fashion, public relations, and media exposure. the 24/7 exposure of the bird's nest stadium helped herzog and meuron rocket to the top. unfortunately many architects themselves criticize the bird's nest for being a profligate waste of steel. but then popularity is a measure of fame, and not really reflective of the actual work.
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Well said, especially when you consider that OMA is a totalitarian apparatchik and Zaha Hadid has become a caricature of herself.
I do think HdeM, UNStudio, Jean Nouvel, Steven Holl and Renzo Piano deserve the acclaim, though.
Anyway, Adrian, you know Chicago's next wave of better firms is still in its infancy: VDT, Krueck + Sexton, Studio Gang, Garofalo Architects, John Ronan Architect, UrbanLab. (Here's hoping the economic downturn doesn't inflict permanent damage on their otherwise bright futures.) Also, most of those cities (New York, London, Paris, Tokyo) never underwent a decline in relevance and prestige following de-industrialization the way Chicago did during the latter half of the 20th Century; their reputations as civic powerhouses when their respective firms established themselves were never really in question. Considering its recent history, I'd say Chicago's in a pretty good place right now, but I know you have little care for things like historical context...
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