Problem Seeking
We’ve heard it time and time again that architects are to be
jack of all trades. Our responsibilities
and obligations can seem endless at times, but occasionally, maybe even often
our tasks are rather simple (but almost never easy). John Carp brought up the
fact that people often thought that they were solving problems, and maybe even
at the beginning they had that potential to do so. However, what they ended up
doing was clarifying problems. This reminded me of the saying that “the right
answer to the wrong question is still the wrong answer”.
All of this reminded me of a class that I took, Spring 2018.
The A+H Architectural Programming, where we referenced the book Problem Seeking
by William M. Pena and Steven A. Parshal. The book helped us organize
thoughts in diagrammatically driven conversations with clients that ultimately
aimed to find the center of the issue that they came to us with, which is often
different than originally thought.
Anyways, I think there’s something of value in taking a
minute to really assess whether or not that we as architects are approaching
the correct problems. Otherwise the solution, no matter how beautiful, might
not be the solution at all.
I really like how you bring up this issue of us, as architect, trying to solve problems, that may not in fact actually be problems. I feel like so much of what we do comes down to what one or one group of people perceives to be a problem. How do we really know if the problems we are addressing are the correct ones? More importantly, when it is our career on the line and there is someone paying us to solve a "problem", how do we take the time to evaluate if they are actually acting in the greater good or not? What if they are not? Do we not take the job? But then we wont get paid? This line becomes so blurred in todays society where everything is centered around money and who is going to pay for it and how are you going to get paid so you can go on.
ReplyDeleteLuke, this is a great thought. Do we want to solve problems just so we can say we solved another problem? And, as a side note, are there really so many problems that need to be solved? We live in a society that loves problem solving. Maybe there aren't so many problems, maybe it is addressing ideas so we can take them another step further, a bit more efficiently each time.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I completely agree. No matter how well something is designed and articulated if it doesn't answer the simple question or problem then it is a failure! We need to immerse ourselves in the particular problems that need to be solved through architecture by understanding the people, culture, environment and the way of life and how our solution through architecture can help make a place better.
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