Keeping The Vision :: The Architect's Lament

Many of us architects chose the profession because we wanted to participate in the act of creation, to give shape and form to the world, to develop our own vision to see it built, and to leave our mark on the world that will outlive us. At least those were the motives initially, sometimes followed by the impulse to develop our own style and create something new and fresh that has never been seen before. As we mature some of us change our vision and turn away from the myopic tendency to see the world as a blank canvas for experimentation and instead become more concerned about the impact we're having on the world. Unfortunately maturity has become a rare quality in an architect.

The devastating affects whimsy and exuberance have had on the functioning of society and world economies has led some of the late bloomers to an epiphany. They have begun to see the interrelationships that abound in our built environment connecting landscape design, urban design, and architecture that can work in harmony to create a better world. These architectural Peter Pans have decided to grow up after spending the last couple decades in Neverland.

At present, and rather unfortunately, this awakening has not led to a deeper study of human settlement, but yet another radical rethink attempting to reinvent the wheel. Caught in the crosshairs of this awakening are the municipal leaders, engineers, and banks who have borne the brunt of disdain for the failed visions of the recent past. These failures are littering the landscape with empty shells waiting in vain for the market that was never there. Perhaps it took this failure on a global scale for the taste makers in the profession to take a look around and see what they had wrought. I feel I'm being too charitable in that assessment because the view from inside the machine was one of moving full speed ahead fully aware of impending collapse but trying to squeeze out every last drop until the party was officially over. Smart Growth was a hard sell in those frothy times and many projects were lost to those promising more, more, more.

Without changing the message I changed my delivery to see if there was a path through the cacophony of shapes and surfaces to achieve a lasting and resilient urbanism that could meet the fashion of the day but offer the flexibility and common sense to stand the test of time. The deciding factor was always the vision and intention of the developer who was placed in the unenviable position of trying to make everybody happy. The municipality, the banker, the community, the politicians, the competition, the customers, the environmentalists, the engineers, and sometimes the designers all had to be in alignment for the project to be realized. Working within that framework I attempted to show how an integrated approach based on the principles of proper urban design could address the concerns of the disparate parties and still afford the flexibility to change course if, as happened, the market goes in a different direction.

It turns out that the message wasn't the problem, nor was the delivery. We were simply sidelined by momentum and the world of development was too busy to stop and take a look around. It required a meltdown to reach the awakening, as is always the case. Now that those responsible for designing the meltdown are awake hopefully they'll take some time to read about what actually works before going back to dreamland and concocting another catastrophe.

Posted via email from Kenneth Hitchens