Terry Smith “The Architecture of Aftermath”: Connections Between Architecture and Society Essay (Critical Writing)

Terry Smith’s Architecture of Aftermath starts by discussing the burdens and psychological issues everyone was dealing with after the events of September 11, 2001. The buildings destroyed by the hijacked planes had been recognized as symbols of the United States’ leadership and excellence. The terrorists’ intentions to destroy the objects of such symbolical significance have impacted the narrative of new visual culture, shaping it to the form that does not fit the late or post-modern concept. In his book, Smith (2006) addresses the growth of modern architecture and measures its aftermath in terms of contemporaneity. The author emphasizes that the factors shaping art and the condition of architecture now “have passed beyond postmodernity” (p. 8). Smith (2006) uses the concept of ‘destination architecture’ to the point that all of the significant buildings with a great symbolical meaning behind them could be a target for malicious organizations. Smith also introduces the term “iconomy” that produced the phenomenon of destination architecture (p.2). The author criticizes the unfair connections between the architecture and its’ context as historical events or subjects they were meant to symbolize. Smith’s book is a great contribution to the topic of contemporary architecture and its capacity. It thoroughly illustrates the deep connections between architecture and its’ political, economic, and cultural aspects in society nowadays. The author’s intent to deconstruct the terms of ‘destination architecture’ and ‘iconomy’ resulted in his understanding of the aftermath of modernity. Smith questions the reader if it is time for the architecture to do what it was supposed to be doing, or “return to roots” and be more centered around the housing of people and community construction (2006, p.15). To illustrate the detachment of architecture from its original mission, Smith ends with a description of the architecture competition on the place of the former World Trade Center.

Reference

Smith, T. E. (2006). The architecture of aftermath. University of Chicago Press.