I've been thinking a lot lately about the role of the architect in today's world. Ever since taking Olon Dotson's 4th World Theory course, I feel as though my eyes have been opened to the inequity existing in infrastructure of our own country, let alone others. I'm still exploring what that means and how I can do anything about it, and at a large scale what responsibility architects have as professionals to address it. What I am certain about, though, is that architects have to have some role. As members of a profession that shapes the built environment, in my opinion if you feel that affecting the lives of those around you is outside the scope of your work then you are entirely wrong. Inherent in our work is the impact it causes; whether that's the client, the users of the space, or the public at-large, ours is a career that cannot be separated from the community.
Nor should it.
As an engineer I swore an oath to uphold the health, safety, and welfare of the public and as an architect I will continue to do so. However, since learning about architecture my perspective on how I can achieve that has shifted somewhat. Before, my oath meant to me that in all of my work I would be thorough and diligent so that any aspect of a structure I designed would be sufficient to maintain its stability, lest I under-design an element that could cause a collapse and injure people. Now, I realize that my reach is lengthened; from a design perspective, I affect the health, safety, and welfare of the public by creating safe buildings but also in the way I create them. Everything I do in a design has the potential to impact someone, from the energy consumption and efficiency, to the materials used, to the construction cost, to the fees charged, to the client chosen.
Like I mentioned, I still am exploring how I personally would like to address the role of the architect, but I think that's they key. It's a very personal answer and only a personal answer, I think, and not one that necessarily needs to be reflected in the profession as a whole. That being said, I remember learning about the triple bottom line in my undergrad (People, Planet, Profit), and I truly believe you have to follow all three tenets if you want to have a good design. If all you care about is profit, then what you are producing isn't architecture to me.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Social Equity in Architecture
TEDx Talk by Mark Raymond: Innovative Architecture to Ensure Social Equity
Social Equity and Sustainable Design
In this blogpost, Hal Bolton brings up the concept of the "Triple Bottom Line" (i.e. people, profit, and planet) and reflects on what it means to be sustainable.
"How do we love all children of all species for all time?" -William McDonough
How can Cities Ensure Social Equity While Promoting New Development at the same Time?
In this short description of a thesis by Amanda Martin, it is pointed out that often new development is expected to help support local economies, but more often than not it does little or nothing to help low-income areas. She suggests that cities adapt the "sustainability" mantra to include social equity, and use new development projects to spur economic, health, and transportation needs of low-income communities as well. When planning for sustainability, community development organizations must research issues and align development impacts to alleviate these problems. She states the unlikelihood of "sustainability" helping improve broader ranges of people and space without a directed effort.
"What gets measured gets done."
Universal Design Education
http://www.udeducation.org/resources/64.htmlBuilding for People
Incorporating social justice into the design process may seem like one more item on an already lengthy to-do list, but the reality is that most projects already involve social components. Accomplishing social justice isn’t a matter of changing everything about a design but rather adjusting the way we look at the design decisions we make.
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