[Jasoncw]

I can see why they'd have trouble.

On the architect's side there's the postmodernism that is an intellectual movement that is complicated and very difficult for the general public to understand.

On the public's side you have a bunch of corporate office towers and other buildings which use historical and decorative elements because the public likes them better and thus they are more profitable. The pomo office tower is just a more luxurious and business oriented version of the pomo strip mall, the pomo walgreens, and the pomo mcmansion. Spiritually they are the same. And while the public finds those buildings more agreeable they haven't seemed to latch onto them as being iconic or important.

Looking through the list of previous winners, I can't think of anything off the top of my head that deserves to be on that list. Rockefeller Center is an American icon, which also strong in terms of architectural theory (it's much more modernist than people think). Crow Island School is a lovely building in itself, but was also very influential in the way that it encouraged new teaching methods and a new conception of what a school was. Practically every midcentury elementary school in the country (and there are a lot of them!) is a copy of Crow Island. Although to be completely honest the winners seem to get worse and worse as it gets closer to the present.