The edifice complex
by Deyan Sudjic · first published 2005
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An analysis of the role played by the rich and powerful in architecture argues that architecture is an expression of authority rather than art, with examples from buildings commissioned by such figures as Hitler, Rockefeller, and Saddam Hussein.
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…from the classical looks of museums. Which technocrats are these? The psychology of architecture is also not a novel idea, but it feels like you're speaking with incredulity here? Deyan Sudjic's The Edifice Complex is a fun book about this. There's a reason the White House looks how it does, it's communicating something and it's asking certain behavioural norms from the people who step inside. I'm not sure what…
on “Why Do Everyone's Logo Fonts Look the Same?” ↗I’ve been reading a book called The Edifice Complex by Deyan Sudjic that is related to this idea. I’m only part way through, but it’s already provided some fascinating examples of how very powerful individuals have used architecture, often to an extreme…
on “The hidden ways that architecture affects the way you feel” ↗