The Curios Case of Benjamin Architect.

 Curiosity Creates the Architect

    From the legendary presentation created by group two (WHOMST!!!!!) One notion stood out to me in particular. There was a split reaction to a question asking something like, “ Should the architect have dominion or should the public create its own architecture”.

It was curious to me because during the conversation it occurred to me that the architects are derived from the public “proper”. Architects spend their time developing their particular notion of building design. In the learning process they have been acclimated with all types of problematic scenarios and good design practices to avoid or implant respectively. The public gives birth to the architect by matching the curiosity of a person with education and then declaring that said person must put the public realm as their highest priority. While I understand there is a dilemma in this paradoxical situation which neither the public nor the architect can escape, if the architect is placing the public realm, safety, and consideration for quality, in that order, as the first set of priorities than the building result is nearly moot. Protecting the public realm is what contemporary architects are responsible for. It would be a disservice to say these are the things that matter but there can be no greater priority in a contemporary context. 

There seems to be a distrust of architects in context not related to these three criteria. Usually these arguments are related to notions such as style, experience, prevailing principles of design, etc. However, architects are all in fact people so it would be erroneous to suggest they are all the same or are all error-free. 

TL : DR

The public realm gives birth to the architects by entrusting them with the public safety within the built environment.

Architects have a set of priorities which include, protecting the public realm, safety, and considerations for quality.

Architects should not be painted with broad brush strokes. They were “people” long before they were trained as architects.