Thirty years after Metropolis's first round table of architecture and design critics, today's leading voices weigh in on their role, and the future of criticism in the digital age

摘要

To reclaim its relevance, design criticism must break free from the navel-gazing circus of design weeks and biennales, salones and triennales, and focus on the real world around us. It must be proactive and provocative, not passive and responsive, seeking out stories rather than following the lead of the PR sales pitch. Design doesn't happen in the hermetic tents of trade fairs and product launches, but in hospitals and schools, subways and sewers, places where the marketing machines won't deign to tread. Critics must escape from the glossy silos of the arts and style sections, because design is not a lifestyle commodity-it's the fundamental stuff of everyday life.