I’ve been hearing a lot about this “everything that’s manmade, tall, and narrow is a phallus” theory the last few years, online and even in some college courses. Frankly, I don’t really buy it. Disclosure, this is totally out of my field, so feel free to set my take on fire if I’m wrong. I don’t doubt that the phallus explanation is true in a few cases, but for most towers, spires, steeples, and other pointy monuments, there’s a couple of other possible inspirations that seem more likely to me. The first would be the upright and narrow stance of humans as opposed to animals standing on four legs close to the ground, like a monument to human exceptionalism. Another theory that I would buy is that tall things just look cool to us on an instinctual level. Trees, mountains, and cliffs are beautiful and are more easily personified than other natural features (relating back to the first point). They have this dignity and magesty about them, it makes sense that our architecture and art would attempt to convey that.

I don’t know, I guess I’m just projecting when I say this, but I just can’t imagine designing a building with cool spikes and thinking “these represent my dick”.