The Representation of Star Architecture between Local and Global Identities

Abstract

Many want to see architecture as an art that is autonomous, freely displaying its author’s ideas and creativity. On the contrary, this chapter considers star architecture as part of broader socio-economic and symbolic relationships and concentrates on the production of identities in the framework of globalisation since the late twentieth century. The question of how and why star architecture represents certain local and global identities and how it interacts with different players in its urban surroundings as well as with the world is examined. The representation of star architecture buildings in highly visible cities is often affected by the process of financialisation and the compression of time and space into hyperreal settings, connecting buildings as mere images. This chapter argues that social production of star architecture implies, in European cities in particular, the representation of both local and global identities for diverse and sometimes conflicting purposes.