--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Images in the 20th century had a unique…" description: "\"Images in the 20th century had a unique power where image became divorced from reality, and often more important than reality... Buildings were judged ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/christopher-alexander-14502_20th-century_images-in-the-20th-century-had-a-unique_2474202.jpg" --- # Images in the 20th century had a unique power where image… ![“Images in the 20th century had a unique power where image became divorced from reality, and often more important than reality... Buildings were judged - at least by members of our own profession - more by the way they looked in magazines than by the satisfaction people felt when using them.” quote by Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/christopher-alexander-14502_20th-century_images-in-the-20th-century-had-a-unique_2474202.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/christopher-alexander-14502_20th-century_images-in-the-20th-century-had-a-unique_2474202.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/christopher-alexander-14502_20th-century_images-in-the-20th-century-had-a-unique_2474202.jpg) > “Images in the 20th century had a unique power where image became divorced from reality, and often more important than reality... Buildings were judged - at least by members of our own profession - more by the way they looked in magazines than by the satisfaction people felt when using them.” [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Images can dominate perception, making visual appeal outweigh functional experience, especially in architecture. **In simple terms:** Looks can outweigh usefulness. Key Takeaway Prioritize real user experience over visual hype. Themes architecture perception design media reality Mood critical reflective Type analytical observational When to use this quote - architectural criticism - magazine spreads - client feedback - design education Key Concepts visual dominance user satisfaction professional bias Questions to Reflect On - How does visual bias affect design decisions? - Can we balance aesthetics with functionality? A Different Perspective Visual appeal may not reflect actual performance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [20th century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/20th-century/) [Became](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/became/) [Buildings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buildings/) [Buildings Judged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buildings-judged-794092/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Divorced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divorced/) [Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt/) [Had](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/had/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/image/) [Image Divorced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/image-divorced-794095/) [Images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/images/) [Images 20Th](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/images-20th-794094/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [Judged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judged/) [Looked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looked/) [Magazines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magazines/) [Members](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/members/) [More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/more/) [Often](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/often/) [Our](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our/) [Own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/own/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Reality Buildings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-buildings-794093/) [Satisfaction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satisfaction/) [Than](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/than/) [Them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/them/) [Unique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unique/) [Using](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/using/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Were](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/were/) [Where](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/where/) ## Related quotes > [Images in the 20th century had a unique power where image became divorced from reality, and often more important than reality. Buildings were judged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/images-in-the-20th-century-had-a-unique-power-where-image-became-2/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [“We form a mental map, and then that shape, shapes us”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-farfel-stark/we-form-a-mental-map-and-then-that-shape-shapes-us/) [Lois Farfel Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-farfel-stark/) > [Because Bin Laden's culture doesn't permit the worship of images, they understand how powerful images are. We wouldn't have thought of creating a visual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-jackson/because-bin-laden-s-culture-doesn-t-permit-the-worship-of-images-they/) [Alison Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-jackson/) > [If you look at landscape in historical terms, you realize that most of the time we have been on Earth as a species, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/if-you-look-at-landscape-in-historical-terms-you-realize-that-most-of/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [Living in Barcelona, I have my own little ghetto utopia. There are 3,000 ghost towns in Spain, and I've used the images of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/living-in-barcelona-i-have-my-own-little-ghetto-utopia-there-are-3/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [High buildings have no genuine advantages, except in speculative gains for banks and land owners. They are not cheaper, they do not help create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/high-buildings-have-no-genuine-advantages-except-in-speculative-gains/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [We've seen the kind of social impact a professional sports team has on a city. A team brings high-profile role models into your community…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-cornett/we-ve-seen-the-kind-of-social-impact-a-professional-sports-team-has/) [Mick Cornett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-cornett/) > [The focus in the Western pictorial tradition is on the body of Christ, the bit you can paint, the Nativity and the infancy, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/the-focus-in-the-western-pictorial-tradition-is-on-the-body-of-christ/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [My job as an editor is to gently prod the attention of the audience to look at various parts of the frame. And that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-murch/my-job-as-an-editor-is-to-gently-prod-the-attention-of-the-audience/) [Walter Murch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-murch/) > [War is big and there are only so many reporters and only so many places for their words and images to appear. Choices are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/war-is-big-and-there-are-only-so-many-reporters-and-only-so-many/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [I have been so great in boxing they had to create an image like Rocky, a white image on the screen, to counteract my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/i-have-been-so-great-in-boxing-they-had-to-create-an-image-like-rocky/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [I always found very strong images for my songwriting in New York.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neneh-cherry/i-always-found-very-strong-images-for-my-songwriting-in-new-york/) [Neneh Cherry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neneh-cherry/) > [ \[We\] make images to see clearly: then we see clearly what we have made. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/we-make-images-to-see-clearly-then-we-see-clearly-what-we-have-made/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [TV images are powerful and sometimes unfair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-katharine-ham/tv-images-are-powerful-and-sometimes-unfair/) [Mary Katharine Ham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-katharine-ham/) > [On the stage, the characters express themselves more through words than images. So the arguments of the characters and the tension between characters -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-alda/on-the-stage-the-characters-express-themselves-more-through-words/) [Alan Alda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-alda/) ## More by Christopher Alexander > [The more living patterns there are in a place - a room, a building, or a town - the more it comes to life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/the-more-living-patterns-there-are-in-a-place-a-room-a-building-or-a/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [I mean, making simulations of what you're going to build is tremendously useful if you can get feedback from them that will tell you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/i-mean-making-simulations-of-what-you-re-going-to-build-is/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [It is not possible to make great buildings, or great towns, beautiful places, places where you feel yourself, places where you feel alive, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/it-is-not-possible-to-make-great-buildings-or-great-towns-beautiful/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [In an organic environment, every place is unique, and the different places also cooperate, with no parts left over, to create a global whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/in-an-organic-environment-every-place-is-unique-and-the-different/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [Drawings help people to work out intricate relationships between parts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/drawings-help-people-to-work-out-intricate-relationships-between-parts/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [There is one timeless way of building. It is a thousand years old, and the same today as it has ever been. The great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/there-is-one-timeless-way-of-building-it-is-a-thousand-years-old-and/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [The structure of life I have described in buildings - the structure which I believe to be objective - is deeply and inextricably connected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/the-structure-of-life-i-have-described-in-buildings-the-structure-2/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [We must face the fact that we are on the brink of times when man may be able to magnify his intellectual and inventive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/we-must-face-the-fact-that-we-are-on-the-brink-of-times-when-man-may/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [In short, no pattern is an isolated entity. Each pattern can exist in the world only to the extent that is supported by other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/in-short-no-pattern-is-an-isolated-entity-each-pattern-can-exist-in/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [In my life as an architect, I found that the single thing which inhibits young professionals, new students most severely, is their acceptance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/in-my-life-as-an-architect-i-found-that-the-single-thing-which/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [Speaking as a builder, if you start something, you must have a vision of the thing which arises from your instinct about preserving and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/speaking-as-a-builder-if-you-start-something-you-must-have-a-vision/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [It is possible to make buildings by stringing together patterns, in a rather loose way. A building made like this, is an assembly of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/it-is-possible-to-make-buildings-by-stringing-together-patterns-in-a/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [All space and matter, organic or inorganic, has some degree of life in it, and matter/space is more alive or less alive according to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/all-space-and-matter-organic-or-inorganic-has-some-degree-of-life-in/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [There are some geologists involved with prospecting for oil and other hidden resources who can pick up a rock and say, 'Yes, there's oil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/there-are-some-geologists-involved-with-prospecting-for-oil-and-other/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [To work our way towards a shared language once again, we must first learn how to discover patterns which are deep, and capable of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/to-work-our-way-towards-a-shared-language-once-again-we-must-first/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) [Explore all 46 Christopher Alexander quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) ## More 20th century quotes > [I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/i-think-the-inhabitants-of-the-past-are-fighting-hard-to-keep-the/) [Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/) > [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. We sent a generation to college. We cultivated the most educated workforce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/america-thrived-in-the-20th-century-because-we-made-high-school-free/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The 20th century has been marked by cynicism, selfishness, greed, and the desire to please, all without changing the status quo. In the 21st…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/the-20th-century-has-been-marked-by-cynicism-selfishness-greed-and/) [Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/) > [I've studied the lives of the 20th century's great businessmen and concluded self-confidence was instrumental in all their success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-spanos/i-ve-studied-the-lives-of-the-20th-century-s-great-businessmen-and/) [Alex Spanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-spanos/) > [Universal literacy was a 20th-century goal. Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-mackay/universal-literacy-was-a-20th-century-goal-before-then-reading-and/) [Hugh Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-mackay/) > [The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/the-great-wars-of-the-20th-century-made-it-into-the-worst-century-ever/) [Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/) > [That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/that-is-very-different-from-how-it-used-to-be-in-the-20th-century/) [Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/cruel-and-paradoxical-though-it-undoubtedly-is-the-record-shows-that/) [David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/) > [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [The Warmth of Other Suns is a sweeping and yet deeply personal tale of America's hidden 20th century history - the long and difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/the-warmth-of-other-suns-is-a-sweeping-and-yet-deeply-personal-tale/) [Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/) [Browse all 672 20th century quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/20th-century/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Images in the 20th century had a unique power where image became divorced from reality, and often more important than reality... 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