Too Many Cooks in The Kitchen?

 

Participatory Architecture is interesting to me because it fundamentally changes the early process of design. Contrary to the common misconception that making architecture democratic is less involved for the architect, participatory design is even more complicated. Take for instance the Maison Medicale which involved consulting many students to gauge what they looked for in a space, creating a sprawling network of unique spaces designed by a menagerie of designers and non-designers. While other projects such as Alejandro Aravena’s half houses are designed up front to provide space for the occupants to one day produce an addition to their home when they can afford it. I find these successful examples interesting but it also makes me wonder about the less successful examples of participatory architecture. Can having too many designers with different ideas result in a jumbled mess? Could taking suggestions from clients with no architectural experience produce a worse project than if it were left to just the architect? This is where I find the architect’s role is defined as a mediator between architectural design and engaging with democratic design. How can we as architects incorporate what we learn from the layman's desires while still incorporating our own personal knowledge of design?