21st Century Follies
Alexander Squier

“Follies” emerged as a distinct architectural category in 18th- and 19th-century Europe. Often modeled after imagined ruins of ancient Rome, Greece, or Egypt, they were designed to evoke a sense of historical grandeur, picturesque decay, or cultural aspiration rather than to serve any utilitarian purpose. Today’s built environment speaks in an “eclectic language”, a diffuse mix of diluted stylistic references drawn from multiple periods. These superficial references coexist within a stark infrastructural backdrop of painted concrete, metal signage, blacktop, and gravel. Within this context, small pockets of vegetation appear almost incidentally, contributing to an environment that can feel visually fragmented, simultaneously striking and monotonous. 

Squier’s installation reimagines the notion of the folly through the lens of present-day urban infrastructure. Drawing from elements such as curbed traffic islands, bollards, and medians, the work does not aim to reproduce these forms accurately or according to their intended functions. Instead, Squier expands upon and reinterprets them into new structural compositions. When placed within real, seemingly unoccupied landscapes, these structures generate scenes that oscillate between desolation and tranquility.

The installation is accompanied by conceptual designs for additional contemporary follies that hybridize and distort components of everyday infrastructure and default architectural vernaculars. By introducing humor, experimental design, and critical framing, it encourages a more reflective engagement with the spaces we inhabit and suggests new ways of finding beauty and meaning within the visual language of contemporary urban life.