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It could have been Julius Caesar who said of the Parthenon: 鈥淚con, iconic, iconolatric鈥�, but then Latin is all Greek to me. However, it was definitely Lord Rogers who said that, because it will be a design-and-build project, the Olympic stadium will be insufficiently 鈥渋conic鈥�, whatever that means.

That comment has projected the word iconic into the lead in the Olympic spin marathon, challenging buzzwords such as 鈥渓egacy鈥�, 鈥渟ustainability鈥� and 鈥渙verspend鈥�.

The big question is: what is the true meaning of iconic? Rogers鈥� logic is that only design-led projects can be iconic and design-and-build ones are automatically 鈥渃ontra-iconic鈥�.

So, the embarrassing Wembley stadium is clearly iconic, while Arsenal鈥檚 highly successful Emirates Stadium must be contra-iconic.

Zaha Hadid鈥檚 unsustainable aquatics centre is iconic, while the commercially developed media centre is contra-iconic. Logically, then, if the extravagant Scottish parliament is iconic, the stylish Welsh assembly must be contra-iconic.

But hang on a second, Taylor Woodrow鈥檚 design-and-build Welsh assembly is winning lots of prizes. And the architect was Lord Rogers himself 鈥� a high priest of iconolatry. Noted iconophiles don鈥檛 switch off their iconism just because they are working under the design-and-build ethos.

To me, the Welsh assembly is much more iconic and likeable than the Scottish parliament. And it was finished on time, within budget, without driving the subcontractors into insolvency or employing half the world鈥檚 construction lawyers.

In the fuss over whether the Olympic stadium should be design-and-build or design-led, we are witnessing the last stand of the God-architect

But let鈥檚 come back to the real meaning of iconic. My grandmother would have said that one person鈥檚 icon was somebody else鈥檚 carbuncle. The concise Oxford dictionary defines it as 鈥渇ollowing a conventional type鈥�, from the Greek 鈥渆ikonikos鈥�, which is the antithesis of the design-led lobby鈥檚 objectives.

Realistically though, in our modern spinning electronic world, the true meaning is irrelevant 鈥� it鈥檚 just the impression it leaves that counts. The word iconic is no more than another weapon in the battle for the survival of the architect-led adversarial contract system. In the fuss over whether the Olympic stadium and the media centre should be design-and-build or design-led, we are witnessing the last stand of the God-architect.

Of course we need iconic structures to lift our spirits and proclaim our status, but our artistic enthusiasm must be tempered by the realities of practicality and cost, illustrated by the following construction costs:

• Basic up to: 拢1,500/m虏
• Modest: 拢1,500-2,500/m虏
• Prestige: 拢2,500-5,000/m虏
• World class: 拢5,000-7,500/m虏
• Iconic: 拢13,000-15,000/m虏.

The 拢13,000/m虏 rate is the cost of the controlled iconicry of the Welsh assembly and the 拢15,000/m虏 rate is that of the alleged iconicry of the Scottish parliament a few years ago 鈥� that鈥檚 two or three times the cost of a world-class structure. The government and the Olympic Delivery Authority cannot risk this level of iconic escalation on any of their projects. Design-and-build construction is the only way for clients to have certainty over the cost of design and therefore the whole project.

In any case, do we really need to be keeping up with the iconic Joneses of Athens, whose stadium is now redundant, or of Beijing, where the world鈥檚 biggest steel bird鈥檚 nest will hit new heights of unsustainability?

Our talented iconophile architects should be concentrating on wow-factor sporting venues that create affordable iconism rather than extravagant notoriety. There鈥檚 no doubt that the cult of iconolatry is the main reason why UK construction costs are among the highest in the world.

All this lexicography has made me realise that I am a true iconoclast 鈥� and that, like iconolatry, is in the dictionary. Season鈥檚 greetings and an iconoclastic new year to you all.