of a critic taking on a sacred cow, but the design sites they want to cuddle up with every day? All positive. 2. We don't like having second thoughts. No one likes the feeling that we have done it wrong. That we've spent all this money on something Useless. That we have spent all this money at all . Architecture criticism sometimes offers nothing but buyer's remorse. We are too late to change anything. When the buildings are going up fast and furious, a hit or a miss doesn't seem to matter as much if you are just reading about it. It is a different story for the city with the concert hall that leaks, or the tower that destroys the skyline. But now construction has slowed down. That should mean we have time to consider our options. That should mean clients spend their money more wisely. And that should mean architecture and design projects have more value added: greater sustainability, greater public engagement. That makes them harder to criticize. Just as no one likes to trample the metaphorical daisies of those design blogs bursting with positivity, no one likes to be the naysayer to good works. So why do I (or we) persist? Criticism isn't always negative. I prefer to think of it as writing with a purpose. Sometimes that purpose is the search for beauty, but it can also seek utility, sustainability, humanity, economy. Criticism has the most detail packed into the smallest package. Garner's Riff was partly