Architecture is not Architecture.

Achitecture loves a bon mot and the more enigmatic the better. Yangsong Ma has form in the genre. His declaration in the eponymous 2010 exhibition “Feelings are facts1” had us stroking our chins. I made my peace with this fairly quickly since, on some level, all feelings are emotional truths but this is dangerous territory because along with many other groups of people, serial killers and architects are alike in believing that that, on some level, they are making the world a better place. This month when Ma was made guest editor of Domus, his address to the crowd at Politecnico di Milano was titled “Architecture is not Architecture”. You can read a summary on the Domus website2 but the point seemed to be the following. Today, architecture must open itself up, move into new territories, and engage more directly and closely with the times and with people. It could even be said that architecture today can become anything – except what is familiar and known. Now this is no more than…