The process which we find ourselves in, in the late 20th century, has an extremely sharp rift between the designing activity and the building activity.
Procedurally they’re different.
Legally they’re different.
And so it’s really embarrassing to talk about anything that has to do with that rift, because no one quite knows what to do about about healing it.
And so the fiction is maintained that actually you can get buildings right by drawing drawings.
And I do want to emphasize that this is simply a fiction.
It is a fiction, please believe that.
But this fiction is necessary because so long as we have the profession of architecture, defined as it is currently defined, that’s what Architects do: they make drawings, make up working drawings, and sign the construction contract.
And from then on, they sort of look over the shoulder of the builder.
So of course you have to assume that it’s actually possible to get buildings right by doing that, otherwise it would be ignominious, wouldn’t it?
My own belief is that this is quite impossible.
And so most of my activities have to do with trying to find modern forms of this process of getting things just right.
It involves very many things.
Of course it involves a greater amount of working with the people that buildings are for.
It involves a much slower process on the land.
It certainly does involve complete integration of the designing and building and monetary activities.
