Considering the architects most in favor, thank goodness for small things

From Christopher Hawthorne:

Architects may enjoy greater celebrity than ever. But it's also true that they may never have been as ineffectual, in a political sense, as they are now.

One wonders why architects, as a professional or business group, should be expected to have any particular political influence.  For what policies would architects — as a group — argue? 'Starchitects' only public policy would likely be more commissions for their firms; in reality they are politically silent — so as to make the fewest enemies, I assume? And judging from starchitects' almost universal poor urban design, it's probably a very good thing that they are not involved in public policy issues. What for example could any of them add to discussions of rebuilding New Orleans? Nothing, so far as the past indicates, Do any of the starchitects opine on public affairs? Lord Rogers is the only one I can think of. So I wonder what Hawthorne really had in mind.

Comments

[kieth nissen]

It could be seen at ground zero, where the Norwegian firm Snøhetta unveiled a handsome design for a visual arts building on the edge of the 9/11 memorial only to watch helplessly as its tenants — first the Drawing Center and then the International Freedom Center — were bounced from the site over the summer for failing to offer enough guarantees that they would never display work that questioned American motives.

The quote above worries me. Does Hawthorn know the difference between a building program and a design? does he think Ed Barnes convinced the UW to expand the Suzallo Library or that FLW suggested that Marin County needed a new Civic Center?

Blogs are great. People make corrections to the above; the sloppy argument gets riddled. If people like Hawthorn have a complaint about the NY commission that pulled the plug on the museum, that's the people to go after, not the architect.

[JRoth]

I think, David, that you're conflating 2 questions: why should anyone care what starchitects have to say about politics or policy, and what policy agenda might architects, as a profession, have? I agree wholeheartedly that the former question is unimportant - no one should care.

But I think that the architecture profession has 2 lines of interest in public policy. One is the standard sort of self-serving advocacy that every group pursues - protecting ancient privilege and expanding purview (obviously, sometimes I think this is right, and others wrong). But the other is advocacy for shared values, including dispassionate urban planning, energy and resource efficiency, and public participation in community development and planning. Obviously, not every architect cares about or favors these things, but they tend to be, as I said, shared values within the profession, and I've seen local AIA chapters and other groups trying to affect public policy and political debate on these issues (I'm sorry I haven't articulated them well). And I think that's a good thing. I think that architects are trained to look at things differently from most others, and that we have a valuable viewpoint to offer. But I also think that the profession is very isolated, and most people would never think to turn to architects for anything but stamped drawings.

[David Sucher]

I think that Hawthorne was referring specifically to starchitects, though of course I'm not positive.

Individually, at least in Seattle, a great many "ordinary" architects (i.e. not the media stars) are in fact involved in the formation of public policy as members of advisory groups and commissions and their expertise is valued. So now that i think about it, I am not sure if Hawthorne's concerns really holds up except as it concerns the stars, and that was my point: such lack of influence is OK.

More broadly, are architects as prevalent in poublic affairs as lawyers? Probably not; no professional group compares with lawyers in public policy. But, like doctors, architects are influential in their area of expertise.

[john massengale]

Have you seen Kroloff's latest comments on New Orleans? I do think he will dig his own grave.