In Response to Michael Meredith

Architecture is a revolution that is essentially undefinable through words or interpretation to have it merge and disconnect from society's pop culture and social acceptance. It is a mind game for an architect, a self sacrifice, for oneself and a constant struggle to try and understand an infinite amount of problems that arise more and more with the growth technology and population. Architects becoming on the verge of insanity where questions arise constantly with no end to an answer. It becomes for them an addiction and a giving of themselves in each project to give apart of them. It's the fact that they will never be ahead because as technology advances each day and construction techniques make building more efficient they can never have a true understanding of the art. Architecture being that a struggle between science and art. Therefore you cannot really learn how to be an architect or go to school for it because they will only teach you the basics. It is not something you can learn because it is creativity and mastering many things all at once and taking on a role of eccentric behavior and abstract thought that you either have or don't. True, it is a time consuming profession and right when you think you've had it figured it out, you've only uncovered one layer of many. True, in society's standards, there is a lack of architecture because the money to invest in it is rather and always a cost and time issue so the architect compromises their design. They do so in order to try and create art in society but after all the compromises and cost cut corners it only because just another place to take up space that has been manipulated by what was put in it. True, not a lot of people appreciate it enough to put their own time of money into it but are critics to degrade it. They take it by their own opinions and insight to not allow room for theory or abstract thought because of the numbness created by everyday ordinary buildings performing simply their function but lack of aesthetics. Architecture becomes unscientific with no formula because no one will ever be truly happy with the design because it's objective. Everyone has an opinion. That is why I believe please whom you want, but in the end what it comes down to, you're the one working on it so you have to be the designer and make the choices because you understand the meaning behind it. You have to do things for yourself with consideration to future generations to make architecture art, a timeless functional space.




This was written in response to the paper written by: Michael Meredith, an assistant professor at Harvard Design School.
Article link:http://www.ends170.com/files/meredith_notes.pdf
More on Michael Meredith:
http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/people/faculty/meredith/