Will WE do the WHY?

 

    How vs. Why. The topic of this week's discussion and readings. There are many how's in architecture. It is a profession after all, to make money. Having such an important role has initiated a discussion based on not only how, but why. Typically, it becomes easier to see the wrong doings of architects of the past and of the generations that come before you. It is no doubt there is a clear vision in many students and people of our generation in: why we are passionate, why we believe things in to change, who we want to impact, ect. But it seems as professionals dive into the profession these desires for change slowly disintegrate. I believe we know what's best, but does that mean many professionals will do it? After gaining a couple years of work experience, many professionals were taught in school similar ideology as us... (i.e. doing the correct thing, taking the public into consideration rather than the developer, understand consequences behind poor design decisions, and more importantly, know the "why".) 

    Does this mean many students will take this ideology into practice? Maybe a handful, but looking at many older professionals in the field, they seemingly forget what they learned in school because now the money and the profession has become more important. In the text (Architecture's Public' in Architecture and Participation" it took decades for the student's ideology to have a true impact on the profession, there was instant backlash and disagreements. Yet, as every generation grows, it becomes easier to see the wrongdoings or issues the generation before them created. It's the natural process of life to change things to become better as the human timeline progresses. To me, it's more than simply understanding the wrong doings of the profession and where we came up short, but that doesn't mean many will become the 'hero' dedicating majority of their time and possibly loosing jobs to maintain what they believe is right. 

    As a young student in the profession, I want to work somewhere that focuses on social change, but with an ever growing profession, weeding out the offices who don't prioritize this ideology isn't easy. While many professionals do follow the why, and the health of everyone rather than giving in to the developer; many give up on this for it's not an easy task in many situations. How can this ideology change and become more implemented into practice rather than only theory? Will it take generations of young professionals realizing the shortcomings on the ethical end of the agenda? What is the most immediate solution?