In 2008, Jean Nouvel won the Pritzker Architecture Prize (the highest prize in architecture). One of his most notable works is the Torre Agbar (pictured), a break-through skyscraper that lights up each night thanks to more than 4,000 LED devices—a pricey but purely cosmetic feature.
a. Many people enjoy looking at the Torre Agbar. Just considering that enjoyment, how would you classify the Torre Agbar: rival or nonrival? Why?
b. The Torre Agbar is the third tallest building in Barcelona. For the purposes of enjoying its illuminated façade, would you classify the building as an excludable or nonexcludable good? Why?
c. Based on your answers, is the LED façade a public good?
d. Companies often hire architects like Nouvel to create beautiful buildings that are expensive to design, build, and maintain yet they cannot charge people to look at them. This chapter offered one possible explanation for this puzzle. What’s the explanation and how does it help justify the construction of a widely enjoyed building?