Perspecta 37 Pub Date - February

The Yale School of Architecture is preparing to release issue 37 of Perspecta; the topic of this year's journal is "Famous." (Unintuitively, the journal is not published through the Yale Press.) Perspecta's editors solicit articles from distinguished scholars and practitioners from around the world, and this year it will be interesting to see the level of celebrity that weighs in. From the publisher's website...

Celebrity permeates all levels of contemporary society; architecture, academia, the architectural press, and the mainstream media all play a role in promoting the mystique of the designer genius. The tradition of learning through apprenticeship and the struggle to have projects commissioned and built perpetuate the importance of the famous architect. Does this serve architecture or only the architectural star? The contributors to Perspecta examine both sides of the argument: Architecture moves forward through a process of innovation; fame provides the architect with the leverage needed to accomplish innovation. Or is it that fame, because of its relationship to the media and popular tastes, inevitably dilutes the quality of the architecture? Does "famous" architecture glorify only itself and neglect the people, the values, and the functions that it must serve?