Icon, you con, we con, they con...

摘要

Maybe it's because I'm a grumpy old architect, but there are some things that really get my goat. One is the misuse and overuse of the term "icon". When is an icon not an icon? Well, one thing is for sure. It is a status that is achieved retrospectively and, therefore, cannot be applied before the subject has taken on the necessary trappings of an icon. By definition, an icon represents or symbolises something.