For centuries, great architecture involved innovation and invention within the context of established, tried-and-true styles, materials and techniques — and the result was buildings that were inspiring and durable. Then, argues scholar and critic Witold Rybczynski, came the 20th century, Le Corbusier and all that followed: the architecture profession became so insistent on invention and originality that, all too often, form does not actually follow function, beauty and context are tossed aside, and the handsome old Stedelijk Museum ends up attached to a giant porcelain plumbing fixture. – The Hedgehog Review
