When Will Minimalism Jump the Shark?

[Jud_T]

Terry,

A very interesting question...The more immediate question to me is how some of these late-to-the party born again "minimalist's" work will be percieved by the general population as well as by us elitists...

[Garland Bayley]

Don`t you really have to be blessed with a superior site and the proper native vegetation to truly achieve minimalism? Its seems to me that certain sites just don`t provide the architect with the luxury of keeping the land`s natural character intact and also providing a minimalist design. Athough Doak, C&C and Gil Hanse are champions of this style of architecture they are rarely given a site that is not condusive to it. 

It is my impression that the Bandon Dunes resort is a superior site. However, it is not my impression that Rustic Canyon was a superior site, especially compared to what was at Bandon. I think Gil did very well on a non-superior site, thank you very much!

[Mike Cirba]

Garland,

Ditto French Creek and Inniscrone.

I'm pretty sure that the same could be said for Legends Heathland, Riverfront, Charlotte, and even Hidden Creek.

[Garland Bayley]

Several threads about recent openings of the Prairie Club and Chicago Highlands seem to beg this question.  Is there any reason to think that minimalism in golf architecture is not subject to overexposure?  Will there come a time when these courses tend to blend into each other?  Put another way, if Arthur Hills and others are going to churn out minimalist designs that openly imitate the style popularized by the leading minimalist architects, will the golfing public tire of the "look"?  Just because we seem to kneel at the altar of minimalism doesn't necessarily mean that it won't go out of style.  Doesn't everything?

Confusing post to a degree. Architects have a style. Minimalism doesn't. As far as minimalism is concerned, I don't think nature will go out of style, as clearly the most minimalistic design is the most naturalistic design. It is only when the architect thinks that nature must be modified that his naturalistic capabilities are demonstrated.

[Tom_Doak]

I'm pretty sure that the same could be said for Legends Heathland, Riverfront, Charlotte, and even Hidden Creek.

Mike:

I don't think anyone would or should call The Legends or Charlotte Golf Links "minimalist", since in both cases clients asked us to imitate Scotland by moving around earth on flat, treed sites.

But otherwise I thank you for the support.  Courses like Quail Crossing and Common Ground were indeed minimalist designs on plain sites.  Neither of them was going to win a "Best New" award competing against $150 high-end resort courses, but neither of them had to charge $150 green fees to survive, either.  Perhaps that is not enough success for Tim Martin, but it is enough for me.

[Tim Martin]

I'm pretty sure that the same could be said for Legends Heathland, Riverfront, Charlotte, and even Hidden Creek.

Mike:

I don't think anyone would or should call The Legends or Charlotte Golf Links "minimalist", since in both cases clients asked us to imitate Scotland by moving around earth on flat, treed sites.

But otherwise I thank you for the support.  Courses like Quail Crossing and Common Ground were indeed minimalist designs on plain sites.  Neither of them was going to win a "Best New" award competing against $150 high-end resort courses, but neither of them had to charge $150 green fees to survive, either.  Perhaps that is not enough success for Tim Martin, but it is enough for me.

Mr. Doak- My post was in no way meant as a slight to you or the other architects I mentioned. You guys have gotten some of the best sites as a result of your previous designs which have been remarkable as well as your architectural vision. My post never mentioned the word success as you referenced. I didn`t take a position on minimalism and have no problem with moving dirt or shaping the land if the end result is a winner. My only point was that the better the site the easier it is to achieve "minimalism".   

[Sean_A]

Minimalism will never go away - it is the one constant design theory that has been expoused throughout the history of architecture.  Many of us grew up with minimalism and many of us will eventually go back to admiring this style.  Sure, we must first get the greats out of our blood, but if you play the game long enough, sooner or later a good percentage of golfers will die having played a minimalist course for their last game.  I say this because sooner or later we realize and appreciate the greatness of simplicity and understand that design concepts can be translated very well by the good and great archies.  So no, minimalism can never jump the shark.  Once it is accused of doing such its an odds on bet that the course in question isn't minimalist.   

Ciao

[Jonathan Cummings]

Eeeeee

That Shark is jumping like the water is boiling at other websites....

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

My question is, who is designing new courses as modern interpretations of Raynor/Banks highly engineered look.  I mean, i would still call it minimalism (definitely not naturalism), yet in that angular, geometric look one finds at Mountain Lake, St. Louis, Camargo, Lookout Mtn., Camargo, et al.

[Matthew Rose]

I always interpret "jumping the shark" as overstaying it's welcome, or perhaps representing a point where the quality of the concept in question has passed its peak.

So I guess the answer would be when there are too many minimalist courses to the point where they become cliche, or perhaps there becomes a surplus of mediocre to bad ones.

I don't see that happening for awhile, particularly if economics continue to make minimalism practical.

[jeffwarne]

Minimalism jumped the shark…


When the cost to build a minimalist course hit 8 figures. 
 
When almost every architect in the country found a way to work the word into their marketing plan. 

Amen
you forgot when the cost to maintain a minimalist course hit 7 figures