sapere critico

Italian to English Art/Literary Architecture

I have a work in which an young architect is anguished by the fact that all the great modern movements and styles had already taken place and his generation was entering an era of “sapere critico" i.e. where instead of doing or creating they would be knowledgably criticising the works of others. Should I simply use criticism?

"chiusa la stagione creativa della prima metà del secolo, nuovamente di fronte alla convinzione, che innerva la cultura architettonica del secondo Ottocento, di appartenere a un’epoca di sapere critico, condannato al commento, incapace di atti creativi originali"