As a continuation of the thoughts registered by the visits to Tampa, I wanted to follow-up on questions involving how we "judge" what is good design. I was asked at that get together what I think represents great architecture and more specifically, what are my criteria, what's my score sheet. This is a frustrating question for me but I will answer it and did at the meeting. The cause for the frustration is that most people's lists that I have seen all seem to have a similar ring to them. They seem to suffer from "vision-statement-itis" populated with motherhood and apple pie glorification. It also seems that the folks who are striving to find out other's lists always want more once they have them. There's never enough detail. So one person's list will be firmness, commodity and delight and another's will be aesthetics, technical excellence and client service. Maybe you can hear the similar ring I do...or maybe not. But whining aside, I say, let's share our lists and find out if they are that different.
…this is how I know if it's Architecture
• It's relevant. Meaning connected to and in the service of specific people and place…Genius Loci.
• It's conceptual. Both the process and the product are driven by ideas.
• It's creative. It gives birth to something innovative and artful. It is a gift of ourselves to the future inhabitants.
• It’s humane…making a contribution to the quality of the human environment in a way that recognizes and supports the human condition. (This is where sustainability resides.)
And overall, my personal goal is to be capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done; to be creative, inventive and a discoverer. Don’t mistake this statement; I also have a great appreciation for the work of the past. And feel that what we place on this earth should connect in some way to the people who came before us and to those who will follow.
Sure there are other candidates for the list. I am particularly interested in the dichotomies of Clarity and Ambiguity, Symbol and Material, and Universal beauty and Subjectivity. For me the weight on each of these shifts from one foot to the other over time. These can easily be seen as contradictory themes and this is precisely the task: to mold components of each attitude into a whole that 's more than the sum of its parts.
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