The Architect's Role & Beyond

"Any innovation begins with going beyond your role."

This is a line from the film (Der Drager) that really stuck with me, as it resonates with the many topics we have discussed in class. No change is made without the conception of a new idea that pushes the limit and challenges the status quo. Throughout this course, I have come to realize (or maybe accept) that an architect worth mentioning is an architect that has accepted his charge to challenge current standards in order to create something innovative. So what is the role of the architect? A contractor will respond one way, a developer, another. But I wonder how we ourselves define the profession that we study. As a result of my education, I would like to say that we do not have a specific role, just as our education is not specific. It is a conglomeration of everything, which I think is echoed in the profession as well, that is, if we practice the right way. 

However, this is not all to say that "the Architect has become King Midas" as sarcastically stated in The Stucture of the Ordinary. It is our responsibility to not only challenge the system with our ideas, but listen to the client, the community, society, and the other voices that arise too. Those ideas should be taken and molded into tangible design that improves the conditions of the built environment. This includes not only grand ideas, but things that come into fruition due to necessity. Slums, for example, are teeming with life as a result of density. So, what can we take from this and implement in future design when a client asks for a housing complex? How can we challenge traditional housing with innovative design that derives from the seemingly unsightly? I think that as architects, it is our job to answer these questions. To most, that may seem like we are overstepping our boundaries. However, it is our role to go beyond our role.