HAPPY MEDIUM

 

The role of the architect, as de Carlo points out, has become very muddled and often inconclusive in society. Sure, everyone knows architects design buildings and often when someone shares they are an architect, they get a similar reaction as if they said they were a doctor or a lawyer. Someone who is making a change in society and tackling an important piece of society that all people need with places to live or work. In our education, we are taught to think about the greater good with how a design can impact the environment or change a city's urban fabric to benefit the community, but in reality we deal with developers, who (more often than not) are looking to benefit their pocket than society. These people who put a lot of investment into their projects determine the direction of the project in a way that goes where the money is. Its become a reality of our consumerist society.

With that, the role of the architect seems to be transforming into a mediator. A person who needs to see both sides of the project, the side that benefits the client and the side that benefits the users and community. This can often be awkward and create situations that Justin Trudeau found himself in, where the balance of each party can throw each other off. 

The architect has an expansive knowledge of design, but also how the elements of design can create ripples through a community. This can easily become a way that the community becomes incorporated into the design process through the architect as a representative. It is just a matter of finding that proper medium that benefits all.