Line in the Sand
I find the conversation surrounding the control or authority of an architect very interesting. It’s true, that historically we have, and still frequently do, work with and for the ‘1%’. Even for these clients with essentially unlimited budgets they have direct input on design… the site, the program, ideas about style… they came to you for a reason after all. But there is a general consensus among this community that an architect is necessary. On the other end of the spectrum, the poorest communities are almost never assisted by architects, regardless of whether they may want/value one of not. Their choices and realizations are almost entirely driven by what’s available, what’s effective. However, there’s a complete willingness to take control of the environment, a freedom. Learning from these freedoms and manipulations, while also providing our expertise is a daunting notion. So the line in sand for me I one that maybe should be fluid, do I want a lot of control on only the most significant capital projects, the monuments, or do I want to be minimally involved with a ton of everyday stuff. It’s difficult to say at this point, but one of my ambitions as an architect is to bring higher, quote-on-quote, modern design to the everyday household, principally to increase quality of life and more sustainable living. Not to mention affordability… I mean it’s almost impossible for younger generations to own their house… I think the architect in the US particularly should step and address this issue. And I’m personally gonna need something a little bigger than a tiny house!
I think it's really interesting how you portray this idea of "control" as a willingness or freedom to take over the built environment. So often control has this negative connotation where it's viewed more as a constraint than a freedom. But I think this has a lot to do with how we present ourselves, and the role we want to take on as an architect. Are we willing to relinquish control in the design to give the freedom back to the user? Or are we so caught up in these pre-conceived notions of how we want our building to act that we've prevented the users or the community to have any part of it?
ReplyDelete"one of my ambitions as an architect is to bring higher, quote-on-quote, modern design to the everyday household, principally to increase quality of life and more sustainable living. Not to mention affordability…"
ReplyDeleteI believe your aspirations to be pure and true, although I think there is some contradiction in this statement. In terms of quality of life and sustainability I think there is a great deal our 'modern' minds would be able to learn from the practices of past and developing countries - surely this works both ways, which I think you acknowledge. Finally, 'high modern' AND affordability. This generations wants it all. You cant always have your cake and eat it too.