Hands on, Hands off, or Hand in Hand?

Why not all of the above?

I think that the main takeaway from the last few weeks is that there is not ONE answer to architecture.  Depending on the architect, environment, or client, different forces are going to play a role in each building project, whether it can be considered architecture or not.

Hands off "architecture" is something so organic and interesting that it creates something special depending on each circumstance that it grows..it has a story.  If architects were inserted into the design of a slum, it would not turn out the same (but it sure would be safer.)  Beyond the idea of making a safer style of living,  do architects really make an architecture that is best for the user?  Maybe in some cases, but for sure not all.  Architects strive for similar connections and networks that are created within a slum community, because they are built from necessity, not imaginary theories.  I think architecture can learn more from these instances than we think.

I think the idea of architectural design goes back to idea of what "architecture" is defined as.  Can we even define these monotonous housing structures, or communities as architecture, or are they just a cluster of buildings?  Is a slum architecture?  Probably not, but that doesn't make it any less of a building structure.