They are still building the Pyramids

This story in the Washington Post about the new addition to Johns Hopkins Hospital leaves me with an unpleasant feeling.  While I enjoy and treasure architectural innovation and excellence, the lack of any information about the cost implications of this sculpture is troubling. Maybe they don't have to worry about such things in Maryland, where payment rates are controlled by a state rate-setting commission, but I doubt it.

 Here in Boston, we have seen similar examples of this edifice complex -- often followed shortly thereafter by unpersuasive claims -- based on slippery numbers -- that the owners are engaged in intensive efforts at cost-cutting.