Sudjic, Deyan

Bio Sketch

Deyan Sudjic is a British architecture critic, writer and curator, former director of the Design Museum in London and former editor of Blueprint and Domus. A leading voice on architecture, design and the city, he is known for his scepticism toward celebrity architecture and the "edifice complex" — the impulse of leaders and institutions to build monumental icons.

Key Works

• The Edifice Complex: How the Rich and Powerful Shape the World (2005) — on the political vanity and power behind iconic architecture.
• B is for Bauhaus (2014) — essays on design.
• The 100 Mile City (1992) — on the contemporary city.

Key Concepts

Concepts associated with this author that have pages in this wiki:

• Iconic Architecture
• Star Architecture

Relevance to Geoffrey's Research

Sudjic's sceptical position in the icon debate (see the 2005 exchange with Jencks) is a key anti-spectacle voice in Geoffrey's spectacle & iconic architecture area: he insists the "Bilbao effect" figures are overstated and that iconic architecture is driven by celebrity, branding and political vanity rather than architectural value.

Source Support

Source notes in this wiki drawn from this author's work:

• Can We Still Believe in Iconic Buildings? (2005)
• The Edifice Complex (2005)
• Untapped: Redefining 'Iconic' Architecture and Ideals