"You know, I would love for some people who say “bullshitting architects” to design a building. It’s hard to do. Super hard. You need to think about lighting, space, circulation, code, envelope, foundation, zoning, materials and material restrictions, HVAC and electrical, construction timelines, COST, fire exits, structure just to make ANY building. And you have to think of it all at once. And each of those things has many many possible choices available and every choice you make affects every other choice. And all of those choices contribute to the “design.”
Now imagine that you are just a normal human being going to work and you’ve got some shit at home, or you are kind of tired or sick, and then make all the best architectural choices for all of those things. And do it on a timeline and sell it to a client who, more often than not, is just the person who is going to rent out the building, so the entire purpose of the structure is to make money for a client who is therefore, not going to be super into spending a lot of extra $ on design time to make it streamlined, beautiful and functional. I would say 90% of the time it’s not the bullshit that makes a bad building, it’s circumstance that makes your design goals bullshit. But you can’t say that, because it’s your job to deal with all that crap. Which is super hard to do."
I told her I loved her comment and was going to post it, and then she sent an additional message (after she had become a bit less annoyed):
"I do, to some extent understand the criticism… or at least, I have some personal criticism. Because the thing with architecture is that it is, to some extent, all within the public realm. Everyone HAS to look at it. Most people have to occupy it. The decisions that architects and clients make dictate what takes up space in your world – visual space at the very least, and in some cases those decisions will actually force you to alter your behavior every single day. So I get it, but instead of calling out “design” as the issue, take steps to alter your world in a way that is meaningful.
Attend public forums on zoning meetings, learn how to do graffiti and make ugly walls beautiful, buy your own buildings and participate in the design process, plant more flowers, sponsor public art, etc. etc. Some architecture firms have open-forum presentations on their upcoming projects where the public is welcome and criticism and ideas are discussed, but the only people I have ever seen in attendance are other architects (and students) and while they all want our cities to be more functional and visually pleasing they probably have a different perspective than some people (which naturally comes from being in on all of those zoning and permit discussions, and having your livelihood depend on the oft-volatile construction industry.)
In conclusion, cool it, dudes. And “be the change..” or something like that."
I thought it was fascinating to read what could have basically been a developer complaining about the rigors of developing software for clients or bad managers, but instead it was an someone talking about what goes into building a structure. And it was refreshing to get a bit of outside perspective and break some of that "programmer's myopia" I find myself succumbing to from time to time.