Architecture and the Cult of Celebrity

[Marty Bonnar]

This is something that’s been simmering in my head for a couple of years now. Please forgive me for venting here, but it actually does have some relevance to our favourite discussion topic.

The UK media is just so absolutely stuffed with Celebrity crap, it’s beyond belief. They are totally besotted with the idea that celebrity is, in some way, important. First they started with ‘Big Brother’, ‘Fame Academy’ and ‘Pop Idol’, (mostly talentless nobodies getting their fifteen minutes of fame), then they graduated(?) to ‘Celebrity Fit Club’ (fat celebs trying to lose weight – yes, honestly!) and the ultimate kack(sp?) – ‘I’m a Celebrity – get me out of here’. (‘C’-rated celebs taken to the Aussie Outback and paid to do ridiculous stunts).

What’s worse is, the tabloid papers and TV are now FULL of the minutiae of these idiots lives. The really important stuff, of course: Who they’re sleeping with, where they are shopping, what clothes they’re wearing. AND people pay attention!

Jeezus H Kee-rist! Has the western world dummed down so far that this is the kind of thing now judged to be great entertainment? What happened to art, music and literature. Actually, that’s rhetorical. I KNOW there’s still some decent stuff out there. It’s just getting harder to find.

Back to GCA: the latest thread on Ernie Els (who I’m sure is a fine chap) foray into design only adds to my hypothesis that apparently even golf course design is not immune from this creeping influence. Designing golf courses seems to be more commonly looked upon as ‘another string to the bow’ of Pro golfers. But we know these CELEBRITY golfers are clearly being asked to do things of which they are incapable and for which they actually have to employ the talents of EXPERTS. I don’t expect them to be Harvard graduates, but let’s face it, most of them are pretty ‘thick’. I, for one, wouldn’t trust 200 acres of my backyard to many of them.

The saddest part of this is that I can see nothing which might bring about a change to any of this. Corporate business and its desire for celebrity association and perceived success will continue to support a market which the average golfer only analyses in terms of what he’s been ‘marketed’ with. Why should he really care anyway that his favourite golfer didn’t REALLY do the design. He MUST have at least SEEN it, right?

Should it not be the business of the Trade Associations to more actively, if not even more aggressively, to tout the abilities of their memberships in much more public forums than they currently do. For example, why not do a campaign involving the above-the-line media to advertise their services? It certainly seems to me that they presently waste a colossal amount of cash ‘preaching to the converted’ in the Trade Press of their own business, which could easily be better spent. Not very well targeted marketing, in my opinion!

Okay, vent over and back to watching ‘Celebrity Nose-Picking’ now. It’s currently my favourite half-hour on TV. I wonder what whats-her-name will be wearing?

FBD.

[Kelly Blake Moran]

Martin,

Welcome back from the International Space Station.  Much has changed since you have been gone!

[PCCraig]

Martin,

  You overlooked one thing, all those celebrity shows made money...and lots of it. Because people like watching famous people do things. Just like people like playing golf courses "designed" by big names. Why? I don't know, but as long as wealthy golfers want to pay out more to play these courses, then they are going to keep producing them.

  Not a whole lot you can do, hey it may not even be that bad of a course.

[ed_getka]

Martin,
    The goal of our society these days seems to be to eliminate thinking. I know the educational system my kids (one of them) are being subjected to certainly will help.
     As far as celebrity "architects" goes, I don't really have a problem with that as long as the architect that is actually doing the work is doing a good job. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to happen much.

[Tom_Doak]

Martin:

The really weird part is, if you become a busy golf architect you become something of a golf celebrity, and people start asking you to sign scorecards and believing that your name is marketable, too, and the fee goes up substantially as a result.

Is it the same in Britain or just here in America?

[Ian Andrew]

Tom,

mmm, Tom......uh Tom...... I would like a signed scorecard.



......Could you get Martin Bonnar to sign my scorecard?  

[Brian_Ewen]

I laugh at how "names" suddenly become marketable .

There is a course in Hua Hin,Thailand called Springfield Royal , been open about 12 years and widely advertised as a Nicklaus Design , There was a big banner advertsing this at the entrance to the resort.

Yet last week when I drove past , there was a new banner reading "Springfield Royal , a Lee Schmidt designed Golf Course."

Why the change ? .

Because of how well Amata Spring CC was recieved while holding the Europe v Asia matches in January . A Curley and Schmidt design .

Best Regards
Brian

[GDStudio]

I have the distinct pleasure of having a Martin Bonnar signature.....let the bidding begin!

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I remember a book dealer telling me that Edward Heath's books were worth more unsigned than signed.

[Marty Bonnar]

I have the distinct pleasure of having a Martin Bonnar signature.....let the bidding begin!

B,
I assume that signature is on thon bounced cheque I once gave you? Please feel free to auction on ebaY!

I remember a book dealer telling me that Edward Heath's books were worth more unsigned than signed.

Mark,
that would certainly be the case in these airts and pairts!!!

FBD.

PS Sorry everyone. but I am posting feverishly at the moment in the assumption that 950 posts brings YaBB God status to the FBD. Shameless, but as we know: "There are few more impressive sights in the world than a Scotsman on the make".

FBD.

[Jari Rasinkangas]

I just read a book about Attention Economy (Sorry, the translation could be wrong, it was a Finnish book).  It describes the economical and marketing reality where we are now living.

The first phase in human economy was the Collecting Economy when people invented more efficient ways of hunting, fishing and collecting nature’s gifts.  The economy was based on changing things with each other.  To success in this economy was mostly based on luck.

The next phase was the Cultivating Economy.  Agriculture, villages, handicraft and more advanced commercial methods were invented.  To survive was based on hard work.

The third phase was the Machinery Economy.  The economy based on production, technology and products lowered the price of goods.  It was a triumph of knowledge, patents and methodologies.  More, better, faster and cheaper.  Just be rational to succeed.

Now we are living the fourth phase, Story Economy or Attention Economy.  Your success is not only based on luck, hard work or knowledge but it is also based on the ability to get attention and use it.

This economy is based on symbols, marketing, brands, drama and stories.  You have to create an emotional charge that drives the story.

Unfortunately this is the world we are living now.  To get people's attention in any way is the most important way to succeed.

Jari

[Tom_Doak]

Jari:

So what is really new about that?

Who would be the 5-10 golf architects in history who generated the most attention for themselves?  Certainly MacKenzie, Ross, Trent Jones, Pete Dye, Nicklaus, and Tom Fazio would all be on that list.

But, if you really want to be honest, all of them got there by being rational, and working hard, and being lucky, too.

[Jari Rasinkangas]

Tom,

The new is that within last few years the trend has become that every pro player that have won something wants to be a course designer.  This did not happen 20 years ago or earlier.

Of course there have been players before that have started their design business but there was only a handful of celebrity level star players that did this.  Now it seems that every world top 50 players is a wannabe architect.

The names you mentioned only Nicklaus is a big name player.  Of course we have to add e.g. Palmer and Player to that list but they were still very few.  The others got their name with other kinds of marketing efforts but that needed the marketing efforts that these big name players do not have to do.

This happens now because all you need to have is a celebrity level name that automatically creates you big money opportunities.

The same trend is happening in all other business areas where the celebrities are making wines, perfumes, designing clothes etc.  Of course the celebrities have been endorsing products for the last 100 years but now it is not just advertising.  The brand is created around them so that it seems for the people that they are actually doing the work by themselves or if your daddy is a celebrity all doors are open to you for whatever you wanna do.

Unfortunately this is a growing trend on GCA also.  How many would buy a house that was designed by a celebrity (athlete)?

I don't mind if a player starts a GCA business and does good work but this trend gives wrong kind of image about GCA.  And it makes the no name architect's marketing work very hard because there's going to be so many player architects that get all the attention.

The worst thing is that the cost of playing will get higher because the design fees will be higher.  This does not though make the no name architect's fees any higher because in this Attention Economy the big names can charge what they want.  The money is poured to “celebrities” from every door and window.

Of course there will be work for no name architects doing cheaper projects but it seems that the division between big name and no name GCAs will be bigger than ever.  The endangered species will be the middle class designers who have office with a few employees.  The one man shop can do the cheap work and the big names do the rest.

Jari

[Eric Franzen]

Tom,

The new is that within last few years the trend has become that every pro player that have won something wants to be a course designer.  This did not happen 20 years ago or earlier.

Well, I belive that a lot of these players intentionally don't want to be a course designer. Instead they are conviced to become a course designer when their management have been approached by someone with an interesting business proposal.

Golf is spreading to new parts of the world. For instance, take Mission Hills in China where a bunch of players (like Annika Sorenstam) have lend their names as consulting designer to their courses.

The irony is that a place like Mission Hills in the long run might boost the wealthy part of the Chinese population interest for golf - which will open up doors for new high end resort projects where real architects might be hired to do the work.

We might detest it all we want, but Justin Timberlake playing at AT&T probably might attract some teenagers to pick the game, where some of them might stick around for the rest of their lives.