My Final Project Thoughts

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.