Blair Kamin has an interesting job. He is an architecture critic. That means that he knows a lot about architecture and then he applies what he knows to give opinions about the built environment which he writes up in books and newspapers, magazines and on the web. So he is NOT an architect, but rather someone who is an expert on architecture. Pretty cool job, right?
ANYWAY, he wrote about “PLOP architecture” in his book, [amazon_link id=”0226423115″ target=”_blank” ]Terror and Wonder: Architecture in a Tumultuous Age[/amazon_link].
We thought it was such a funny term, sounds like a building that looks like dog poop or something. In fact, Blair Kamin describes “Plop architecture” as something almost as stinky as dog poop. It is a style of building design that has been built a lot in recent years which is not elegant or beautiful, but rather just functional. Where a base of a building is built to accommodate parking and sometimes stores, it has little relationship to the tower above it. So it is klunky and ugly and really bad design.
An example of one of these buildings designed in the “Plop” style can be seen here. It is the River East Center Building in Chicago. We are sure you can find many other examples around your city too. Compare them to a building that is friendly and beautiful on the street level. YOu will know a building that is not “Plop” because it feels good when you walk by, perhaps even graceful and the top and bottom of it are integrated as one fluid design.
Stop the Plop! They stink!