The following essay shows the current status of a text which is constantly being rewritten, its theses and contents expanded and modified over some fifteen years, its different versions already used in different situations. This text has not led to any debate; I have not been challenged by anyone. In fact, it proves the futility of writing about architecture in our time. But it may be the case that this diagnosis, fifteen years in the making, has only observed the passing of time and named the phenomena understood anyway by every player in the field of architecture.