Architecture by the people

‘In the case of a residential unit, for example, the resources assigned are considered invariable, so the standards corresponding to those resources are considered insurmountable. lf designed for a rich social group, it will be planned to high standards, while for a poor social group it will follow low standards - as if the human needs of the two groups were not absolutely identical. The residential unit for the rich will follow high quality urban and building typologies, the unit for the poor low quality and depressing ones………..

……....Successive hypotheses should begin to involve the user directly as protagonist in a progressive action of selection and definition of needs which the operation must satisfy, until a precise definition is reached of the architectural or urbanistic image that is to be achieved.’

-Giancarlo De Carlo: ‘Architecture’s Public’ in Architecture and Participation

De Carlo really gets to the fundamental problem with authoritarian structures.  The subjugation of the user is truly the heart of this issue in modern housing. The successive hypothesis involving the user as the ‘direct protagonist’ is a great prediction for what's to come in the housing and business markets.  I think it is a great idea for architects to ‘fully step across the line’ as De Carlo puts it, and stand with the people. It’s very smart of De Carlo to anticipate the engerance of technologies that will support this user invloed hypostasis to design.  Many different types of technology make design more accessible to the normal person. Many people have the ideas and determination to create a home or business that suits their needs but that the means to make it reality.  

‘Growth and flexibility in an architectural organism are not really possible except under a new conception of architectural quality. This new conception cannot be formulated except through a more attentive exploration of those phenomena of creative participation currently dismissed as 'disorder'. It is in their intricate context, in fact, that we shall find the matrix of an open and self generating formal organisation which rejects a private and exclusive way of using land, and through this rejection, delineates a new way of using it on a pluralistic and inclusive basis. In giving the user a creative role, we implicitly accept this basis.’

  

-Giancarlo De Carlo: ‘Architecture’s Public’ in Architecture and Participation

Creative participation is often still ignored in many buildings today.  We have the technology to make it a real role in the building process. It’s a really tough problem especially in America where almost all of the land and projects are privately owned and funded and public involvement can be viewed as a negative process. Public  participation today is generally viewed as a town hall style discussion which if facilitated properly can be very successful. However I think De Carlo is calling for an even greater role for the user in the design process. There are many ways that could be accomplished today.  Accessible design softwares and social media are the first that come to mind. This type of creative medium does run the risk of reducing the creative process to that technology(phone, tablet etc.) and excluding the individual from the process in some way. I think it's imperative that creative participation is hands on and face to face, along with augmentation from new technologies.