Architecture for the Why

So much of architecture is focused on how to solve the problems/constraints of a particular project rather than focusing on why those problems/constraints exist in the first place. When focusing only on how to solve these problems through architecture, the architecture itself just misses the mark in most cases. The building just becomes another building in the skyline that may have figured out how to solve some of the problems but isn’t really responding in a way that helps to neutralize the underlining problems that exist. Take our project in Haiti for example, there are many challenges when trying to design a building in that area. They have a lack of clean water, the country is poor, they have deforestation, lack of building materials and the list goes on. But without trying to understand why Haiti is the why it is would be impossible to design a piece of architecture in this area. There are multiple things to think about when designing for a place like Haiti in order to try to help with the issues the country and people are facing on a day to day basis. The point of architecture, in my opinion, is to design a space that responds to the existing conditions/problems in a way that will help improve the challenges faced daily and to be innovative on how to help improve the existing conditions.