HAS ARCHITECTURE LOST ITS TOUCH WITH PEOPLE?
By definition, an architect is the observing and all-knowing building professional, providing services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings, all of this for one principal purpose, the building to be occupied and engaged with humans. According to Kolb, 2012 somehow, architecture seems to be heading in all sort of directions today, this is not surprising with today’s global economy with multicultural demand and countless sources of funding for architectural projects.
Architects have lost their sense of centrality in a design project. The architect is not so much in control anymore, even if the architect is able to manipulate the interior spaces and massing of the building. Developers will bring their own ideas, their own engineers, and constraints. Financial factors and the developers specialized members tend to manipulate the architect to their exact idea of the new development. In some form, it is almost as if architects will have to deal with image-makers while the fight between the engineer, decorator, and developer will continue with the architect. (Kolb, 2012)
Let us take a simple example:
A Fast food franchise. The developers in collaboration with an architect conducted an extensive amount of market research before learning from potential customers that their product should not be just about the food itself, but also providing spaces for people to occupy the building. In return, this will leed to many important design decisions. All these decisions provided the architect with a set of constants and guides to how the building should perform, function and advertise the product. The architectural design of franchise buildings are unified. None of them are rendered unique, it doesn’t matter if the building will fit into its surrounding context or not. The building will be positioned on a building site for one purpose only, an income. Finance and business will overrule the sensitivity to architecture and only focus on the function of the building. Usually, these type of architectural designs does not have a large lifespan. People don’t acknowledge the building itself, but the building will always be successful due to the landmark it creates, the product and service it provides.
According to Benfield, 2018, architects do not work for themselves but for clients, for an architect to create a sympathetic, humanist building, the architect will not just need talent and ethics but also a sympathetic humanist client. Clients are often driving the decisions about what kind of building is designed and constructed.
During much of the 19th and 20th centuries, the design of public spaces was steered by industrialization, auto-centered planning, and urban renewal. In the 1960s a question was asked, “What makes a great public space for people?” By making an effort with placemaking, the designers focused on listening to the needs and wants of users. This increased the physical design elements needed to create good public spaces and architecture. This proved that the architectural design has become just as important as the place. The relationship between places and their communities is not linear, but mutually influential. Places develop and grow out of the needs of their formational communities, but in return, they shape the way these communities behave and grow. (Benfield, 2018)
In many ways, we are executing the same tasks that the Greek, Chinese and the medieval builders. However, we are doing this in a new context with new meanings and our tasks that are not quite the same as what theirs were. The fact of the matter is that change is a constant, body’s change, modes of living change as well as the design and methods of construction.
Has architecture lost its touch with people? In my opinion yes, when architecture is truly based on the developer's impression.
According to Tholl, 2014, Architects need to consider designing with an awareness that circumstances will change. The context of the building will evolve and be used in different ways that will need to incorporate new technologies and functions we cannot yet predict. Never only, focus on the current purpose and function. Think of the future and the next 100 years to come.
References
Benfield, K., 2018. City Lab: Has Architecture Lost Touch With the People?. [Online] Available at: https://www.citylab.com/design/2013/10/has-architecture-lost-touch-people/7388/ [Accessed 27 February 2018].
Kolb, D., 2012. dkolb: Has Architecture Lost its Bearings?. [Online] Available at: http://www.dkolb.org/bu.oct.aa.phil.5.pdf [Accessed 27 February 2018].
Tholl, M., 2014. The European: “Architecture is an expression of values”. [Online] Available at: http://www.theeuropean-magazine.com/norman-foster/9114-the-role-of-architecture-in-todays-society [Accessed 27 February 2018].
