I heard an NPR segment that sounded like a coronation of the Shard in London. Seeing it in this video gives me more cause to agree with Alexander's point about our failure to maintain a collective aesthetic excellence. I am not a traditionalist by any means, but I think that the architecture train has left the rails. PROPORZIONE! (And then there is that other monster that looks like a giant refrigerator.) (3:20) Alas, all cities have these things.
I tend to think it is not just the spread of ugliness, but ugliness has established itself so well to the extent that it has become the new beautiful!... The more we are overcome by ugliness in the cityscape the more our aesthetic sense diminishes leading to an inability to distinguish between beautiful and ugly.
Ugliness is impossible when nature shapes the thing. Life shapes things in beautiful functional ways. The problem is that the decisions are taken centrally, by politicians and academics that are usually shallow megalomaniacs that ignore the nature of the thing and its specific local functions. They do not understand principles, they cannot observe natural function in its essence, and they have low sensitivity to life and society. The wrong decisions are made on a massive scale and affect far too many people. In nature changes are progressive. A path is beaten by the sensibility of many to serve a function. A highway is drawn by a single man and most of the compromises have nothing to do with natural function.
This is probably the case. My feeling is that this is around about 2012 or slightly before. What are you doing now? I was very glad to work with him somewhat and recently (2013 and 2012). I'm now in Pasadena designing (mostly homes) for people, applying the methods he discovered and developed (clients love them) in so far as the permitting process such as it is will allow. :)
