Recently BIG, Bjarke Ingles Group, released renderings for two very different projects - The Wilson School in Virginia, and a new police precinct in Bronx, So far, you are probably thinking that these are two very differnt projects, and programmatically you'd be correct. The renderings that BIG have released, however, tell a different story. Viewing each project side-by-side it becomes hard to distinguish which project is the school, and which is the police precinct.

While this may be a recent trend for BIG, the practice of "one size fits all" architecture has existed for a long time. Is this just the natural evolution of the commodification of architecture? It seems like the greater interest becomes in a particular architect, the more work is desired from them, the harder it becomes to create projects that differentiate themselves. Are we all doomed to the fate of Frank Gehry or Daniel Libeskind, repetitiously creating projects because we have become a stylized brand? It seems like one of the larger issues we face moving forward as a discipline is how to maintain a sense of creative freedom, while still portraying the qualities that become trademark to our work and desirable to the clients at large.

Left: Bronx Police Precinct, Right: The Wilson School