73 | Futurity
Leave your Mark, Mark the Change Maarten Ingen Housz, Physee Technologies
Explorations into the possible future roles of architects are as hip as they are necessary. Worldwide, architectural institutions, associations, faculties and the like have hosted lectures, conferences and even games on the futurity of the architectural practice, oftentimes resulting in case-studies and lookouts for each identified role. During these efforts, possible roles of the architect are often explored and defined relative to other specialized, commercial or political stakeholders in construction. Sometimes, it seems that exploring the architect’s role is, in fact, a search for relevance in an industry that doesn’t automatically assume anymore the added value of the architect’s skill and architecture as its product. How useful the discussion on the architect’s role may be, for aspiring architecture students it may only add uncertainty and confusion to the one question that keeps them busy anyway: When I’m able to do anything, how will I shape my profession?
Experiment with Purpose You are young, intelligent, creative and a little
You’ll probably have your answer as soon as you can look
perfectionist. You have an eye for details, ideas and ideals.
back on a substantial career.
You know enough about everything to make your design
In the meantime, as an experiment, try to design your
work, but working on designing everything is enough and
architectural detail with either one of the following
to spare. The world around you demands that you take a
purposes in mind and follow it blindly:
standpoint. Preferably one that remains within budget. Conceptualism has helped you to limit your options and
•
Drawing attention and clearly Leaving your Mark in the built environment
guide your design, but your curiosity beyond this principle remains. • So, how to go about it?
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Solving a societal problem and clearly Marking the Change in the built environment
