Don, nothing could be further from my mind than knocking down the existing features and then staring from scratch. However , I m afraid Pat is correct that Rees wouldn't get a pass for the work . It looks real interesting and reviews from many are quite good. Can't say Rees is anywhere near the top of my list when it come s to architects, but he deserves a fair shake in review of his work.
My point was that every situation is different and a good architect works with the land and the budget to make it work. Also , they need to be able to conform to the owners desires without giving up their design beliefs. Actually that question begs a new thread . Believe me , it's a lot more work to build a Twisted Dune than recreate a hole at Greate Bay , but both are intellectually and artistically challenging . Just different .
I think that if a Signature architect had designed SS, and the other 17 holes were the same as they are, that they'd get more than a pass, they might actually get some domestic work again.
But if they didn't get many people to make the trek, that would be because of all the Shite they'd produced prior, and to me that would be perfectly fair-and the owner's fault for failing to consider the effect of hiring an architect that had drawing power.
God knows that for years the current GCA faves had their share of watching signature firms getting prime sites and projects because of their names and daddy's names
It cuts both ways.
It seems really silly to me to be discussing one hole, in a spectacular ,unique land form, and wondering why if we would criticize another architect if he did that. It's irrelevant.
i would argue that there are dunes and moundtains all over that part fo Florida. I saw plenty when I was driving to Streamsong.
Does it matter if they're 40,000, 100, or 20 years old? They're there, and the architects chose to incorporate some of them into their design.
Some are not as they are too severe.