Big Duck - Legacy

Legacy

Buildings such as this are classified as novelty architecture. However, in architecture the term "duck" is used more specifically to describe buildings that are in the shape of an everyday object they relate to. According the Long Island newspaper Newsday, "The Big Duck has influenced the world of architecture; any building that is shaped like its product is called a 'duck'." Edward Tufte's The Visual Display of Quantitative Information uses the term "duck", explicitly named after this building, to describe irrelevant decorative elements in charts. The Big Duck was the target of widespread criticism during the 1960s and early 1970s but the building did have its architectural defenders. Robert Venturi said that since the building combined functional and symbolic aspects of architecture it was noteworthy. It was Venturi who coined the term "duck" to describe a building in which the architecture is subordinate to the overall symbolic form. However, he preferred the "decorated shed" as a model. On November 13, 2006, radio station WBLI rated the Flanders Duck first amongst the 7 wonders of Long Island, just ahead of the Commack Motor Inn