ABSTRACT
Positioning a critique from the perspective of function and performance raises very different questions about a work than, for example, a search for meaning or the poetry of place. The ways in which a site functions might be evaluated on how well it meets the expectations of its users, or for how it performs from an environmental perspective. This chapter includes the approaches of post-occupancy evaluation, visitor counts, and using the CPTED framework as a set of norms for criticism. While functionality might imply a normative purpose for critique, the perspective of performative critique challenges what the norms might be. Skateboarders and traceurs are discussed as performative critics. The performance of a designed landscape in terms of its response to weather is also explored.
