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June 9, 2009
Turning a blind eye in exchange for big-budget architecture
The Cornell Daily Sun
by Ann Lui
Frank Gehry gets knocked for being a slavery enabler, and it's got nothing to do with Barclays' slave-running past. But Atlantic Yards does score a mention.
A couple weeks ago, the Human Rights Watch released an 80 page report documenting the varied human rights violations that are the foundation for construction in Dubai and its sister city Abu Dhabi.
But some starchitects aren't exactly taking a stand.
Christopher Sell, also for the Architect’s Journal reported that, “A source close to the Saadiyat Island project said: ‘Neither Gehry nor Hadid have shown concern for the issues. It is quite surprising if they didn’t know what is going on in Abu Dhabi.’”
...Dubai and Abu Dhabi are opportunities to take a stand – to say: slavery and injustice are not the foundations on which our visions for the future are built. The monumental pyramids in neighboring Egypt are too easy of a comparison to make. Times are tough, the economy sucks, I know, I know. It’s hard to get commissions in the States – Gehry’s stadium at the Atlantic Yards was just abandoned for generic suburban architecture; it’s understandable what his project in the UAE means to the firm. Nonetheless, the economy should not be an excuse for sanctioning evil.
Posted by eric at June 9, 2009 4:17 PM