Derrida discussion continued...
Derrida's lifetime was indeed a controversial one. He was labelled in death as 'difficult to understand' by journalists who had merely heard of his work without actually making an effort to understand it. That's probably the problem of most people, especially the youth today (IMHO, myself included). We don't read enough to understand something and conclude it as rubbish.
Deconstruction of everyday ideas by Derrida provoked hostility from many people. E.g. Love, faith, forgiveness, etc. Topics which provoke a lot of emotion but 'disected' into simple absolutes by Derrida... many people were anti-Derrida before trying to understand what he was trying to achieve.
Perhaps one of the objectives he was trying to achieve with deconstructivism was to help people understand things better - in totality - and thus inculcating a deeper more meaningful appreciation of things.
As for Deconstruction in architecture, the original idea of proponents such as Bernard Tschumi in the La Vilette project explored deconstruction in a very fresh way. Subsequently, it deteriorated into just another architectural style - the result of which was predictable in every way: 'dismantled, fractured dissasmblages, with no visual logic, no attempt at harmoniuos composition of facades no pragmatic reason.' (Archpedia)
I typed out Derrida's discussion on 'forgiveness' but I lost it somehow. I will try to post it up when I come across it again.
Cheers.