Servant Architect
I was intrigued with the whole politics in architecture portion of our class, it was something that I knew heavily influenced architecture, but there were several ways that this was brought up that I didn’t necessarily think of as ‘political’ until hearing Francos thoughts on the subject. I thought that it was a good for us all to be able to sit with these topics and let them sink in for us as we talk through these issues together. We got an introduction to many new architects and influences these last few weeks and specifically, today in class Samuel Mockbee’s quote really stuck out to me.
“All
architects expect and hope that their work will act in some sense as a servant
for the community.” So, of course I looked this quote up and Samuel
immediately after class and finished the reading with him in it this week. This quote extends into more thoughts on the architect
wanting to make a better world with the influence of their architecture and “Architects
should always be in a position to nudge and cajole and inspire.”
“Architecture is a social art,” Mockbee said, “and
as a social art, it is our social responsibility to make sure that we are
delivering architecture that meets not only functional and creative comforts,
but also spiritual comfort.”
I think that these couple snip-its from Mockbee embody a lot
of the thoughts that I have going into the profession and really trying to dig
deep into what I want to give my community once I start working in just a few
short months. I truly believe that we have many responsibilities as architects
to cater to the needs and the wants of the community, not just the rich—not
just the poor, but everyone who is involved. I think that being a responsible
designer comes from knowing the rights and wrongs and finding ways to correct
them. Studying the community, and using things like the triangle (representational
space, space of practice, and representation of space) that we talked about in
class, there is a middle ground that can do good for humanity.
“As an artist or an Architect, I have the opportunity to
address wrongs and try to correct them.” Mockbee
Hailey, I appreciate your reflection about what a community is. I feel like to decide on "right/wrong", we as emerging architectures need to listen to what our community members and stay true to our moral beliefs of what will help them best.
ReplyDeleteHailey, I really love your thoughts here, and I too have been pushed to think about how politics and architecture connect in really beautiful, new ways these past few weeks. We have an amazing privilege and responsibility as designers to impact change. I'm starting to think that architecture and architects aren't necessarily the answer to a lot of complex issues but rather we can and do get to be the bridge between a lot of things.
ReplyDeleteHailey,
ReplyDeleteSamuel Mockbee has also had a tremendous influence on my view of our profession! The quotes you’ve pulled here do a great job of showcasing the type of man Mockbee was. At the end of the day, we are public servants. It is our duty to protect the best interests of our communities. This becomes difficult, however, when one must choose between the “fame and fortune” that comes with working for the rich – and the modest career that comes with working for the common person. Mockbee did a great job of bridging this gap. Although he was first and foremost a public servant, his profound ideas put him on an international stage.