{"id":191472,"date":"2024-06-19T08:01:04","date_gmt":"2024-06-19T12:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/?p=191472"},"modified":"2024-06-18T08:19:38","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T12:19:38","slug":"fascist-minimalism-kanye-west-destroys-tadao-ando-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/inspiration\/stories\/fascist-minimalism-kanye-west-destroys-tadao-ando-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Fascist Minimalism: The Dystopian Design Philosophy of Kanye West"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author\u2019s Note: The author and editor of this piece spent a long time discussing whether or not it should be published. We were both concerned about the ethics of giving attention to Ye, an artist of inarguable gifts, but one who has in recent years used his platform to spread bigotry and hatred. We decided to go with it, if only because the story recounted here helps puncture the myth of Ye\u2019s genius \u2014 a reputation he has systematically cultivated for decades, frequently comparing himself to figures such as Einstein, Shakespeare, and Picasso. As this article shows, there is nothing visionary about his recent foray into architecture.<\/em><\/p>\n

The New Yorker<\/em> recently published a gripping article by Ian Parker titled \u201cKanye West Bought an Architectural Treasure \u2014 then Gave it a Violent Remix.\u201d<\/a> The piece really is riveting, the type of story that would have attracted Tom Wolfe \u2014 or maybe J.G. Ballard. Like a fiery car crash, one simply cannot turn away from it.<\/p>\n

For those who haven\u2019t read the article, the news angle is that Ye is being sued by a contractor named Tony Saxon. In the lawsuit, Saxon describes the surreal experience of being hired by Ye to renovate a house that he purchased in Malibu for $57 million in the fall of 2021. Instead of having Saxon perform routine renovations, Ye asked him to dismantle the house piece by piece for reasons that were never altogether clear. This all happened around a year before the once universally feted musician would torch his reputation by appearing on the notorious far-right television program InfoWars<\/em> and proclaiming that he \u201cloved Hitler.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A post shared by The New Yorker (@newyorkermag)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n