Chapter VII, Silver-White, Silver-Gray Summary and Analysis

In 1973, The Venturi, or Pop Architects, took on the Whites in an attack. In a review of Five Architects called "Five on Five," five Venturi architects reviewed the Whites' book. The attack was coated in professional and gracious veneer but it was still brutal. The Whites were furious and made such a protest that American architects have stopped attacking each other in print, but the Venturi Five had helped them by making the Whites seem like one of two armies fighting for the soul of architecture. No, it was Whites versus Pops, or as they were later named, Grays. Thus, it was the Whites versus the Grays.

Young European architects couldn't understand the fight. Americans stole the forefront of architectural theory and had a great time with each other during a depression. European architecture had...