One cannot make architecture without studying the condition of life in the city
Aldo RossiRead
If architecture is going to nudge, cajole, and inspire a community to challenge the status quo into making responsible changes, it will take the subversive leadership of academics and practitioners who keep reminding students of the profession’s responsibilities.
Interpretation
Architecture can inspire communities to drive positive change through responsible design and leadership.
This quote emphasizes the vital role that architecture plays in motivating communities to re-evaluate and improve their circumstances. Samuel Mockbee advocates for the necessity of strong leadership from both educators and practitioners in the field, who are responsible for instilling in students an awareness of their ethical duties as architects to affect social change.
In practice
In a talk on sustainable design, one might say, 'As Samuel Mockbee noted, architecture should challenge the status quo and inspire our communities.'
One cannot make architecture without studying the condition of life in the city
Why should we build very large spaces when they are not necessary? We can design halls spanning several kilometres and covering a whole city, but we have to ask, what does it really make? What does society really need?
There is a danger when every building has to look spectacular; to look like it is changing the world. I don't care how a building looks if it means something, not to architects, but to the people who use it.
Architects design buildings; that's what we do, so we have to go with the flow; and, even though I'm still an old Leftie, global capitalism does have its good side. It's broken down barriers - the Berlin Wall, the Soviet Union - it's raised a lot of people up economically, and for architects, it has meant that we can work around the world.
I would like to use architecture to create bonds between people who live in cities, and even use it to recover the communities that used to exist in every single city.
Modern buildings of our time are so huge that one must group them. Often the space between these buildings is as important as the buildings themselves.
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