Blobitecture
The latest from Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words newsletter:
2. Turns of Phrase: Blobitecture
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Blobitecture is curvy architecture, fluid protoplasmic shapes that
completely redefine what a building ought to look like. You can now
find examples in many cities, because adventurous architects are
using computer-aided design systems to create structures that would
otherwise be impossible to realise. Examples are Norman Foster’s
Swiss Re building in London (dubbed the Erotic Gherkin) and Frank
Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and Walt Disney Concert Hall in
Los Angeles. The word has been known in the architectural world for
some years but the oldest appearance in print I can find is in
William Safire’s On Language column in December 2002, in which he
says that its precursor “blob architecture” was coined in 1995 by
the architect Greg Lynn. He based it on “binary large object”, or
“BLOB”, a technical term for a computer representation of an
object; that “blob” is also a good word for the amoeboid buildings
that can result is no coincidence. The word appeared in the title
of a book by John K Waters in 2003 and the year after in Next
Generation Architecture by Joseph Rosa. Everywhere it is mildly
pejorative, but in Britain it is further coloured by associations
with an excessively rotund and very silly pink character with
yellow spots called Mr Blobby, who became famous in the early 1990s
in Noel Edmonds’ Saturday night BBC television show Noel’s House
Party.* From Wikipedia, 17 May 2005: In large part, blobitecture derives
its forms from an architect’s interpretation of natural organic
forms, but also depends on the advanced use of computer modeling to
ensure that the evolving design is structurally stable.* From the Guardian, 6 Jun. 2005: Not only does the new Queen Mary
building point towards a fresh and confident future for hospital
design, it is also doing wonders for the reputation of its
architect, the flamboyant Will Alsop, whose toy-like
“blobitecture” and mad-hatter plans for reviving towns in northern
England with designs that resemble, among other things, Marge
Simpson’s hairdo, have earned him as many brickbats as plaudits.
Also from WWW: sternutatory and Johnny-on-the-spot.