Buildings Shown as Art, and Art as Buildings

You have to admire their self-control. The last time a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art organized a show on a living architect was 1973, when Postmodernism was in its infancy and Brutalism was still embraced as an architectural style. Since then, architecture has become more popular than ever, and even small art institutions are vying for a piece of its audience, pumping out exhibitions that range from the indecently self-promoting to scholarly and thoughtful. The Met held back until now.