Architecture Boston

While agreeing with the general predictive statements in Dave Giancarli’s vision of the future in   “Generation Why Not,”  we differ in the  prescriptive desire for architecture to solve “the problem.” The idea that architecture should assume the solution to problems yet unrealized  is dangerous territory indeed, if not an open invitation for the profession to repeat those failures. 

Seeing the profession this way is to experience the world as a set of problems waiting for the  designer’s singular resolution. This kind of  architectural absolutism perpetuates the mindset our  generation would seemingly hope to avoid. Boston itself is perhaps the best example  of this “top-down” attitude; the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s infamous erasure of the West End stands as perhaps the best example.

Architecture in the absolute denies the richness and diversity of voices already found within the landscapes we as young architects would  seek to enhance. Social media platforms and crowdsourcing have proven themselves remarkably potent in their ability to self-critically outline  and address the needs of the many while working toward an agreed-upon solution. This generation’s successful mitigation of the future will  depend on our ability to translate these generational ideals into real and tangible new approaches to the practice of architecture. 

Submission to / Architecture Boston Magazine

Prompt / Generation Why Not, by David Giancarli

Published / Winter 2013 (Volume 16, N4) 

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