On the Duty and Power of Architectural Criticism

Should architectural criticism be enlightening? Should it help in the creation of a better built environment? Is there a factual basis to it? Does it have a duty to present evidence in the evaluation of a building? Or should it take on what architects say about their designs?In the context of a flat internet, should architectural criticism be able to define best practices? Does it wield the power over who is in and who is out? Architectural criticism, like all human endeavors, is at a crucial juncture. While serious architecture struggles for recognition, much so-called architectural criticism is merely a poorly paid, decorative legitimation for hyperbolicpractice. Incisive architectural criticism is rare, while the definition of criticism itself has become opaque.The international conference has gathered exceptional papers that define the purposes and methods of architectural criticism. What should the ethical basis be of architectural criticism? Can it be objective in the context of paid content? Should it outline ideal practices? Or what should it do?All contributions address either the duty or the power of architectural criticism, in both cases offering the outline of one analysis of an existing building.