Do buildings shape the future?

Do architects shape the future?

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF ARCHITECTURE?

What responsibilities should architects be held accountable for? What happens when architects choose to immerse themselves in the local? Can they be *shaped* by their communities? What if architects could engage in the building process at every stage, even before a building is conceived? How can we (re)define the processes of architecture to encompass considerations outside of the drawing and planning of buildings?

In the coming weeks I’ll be developing and refining an essay as a submission to Pieter Jangrandry’s forthcoming publication, The Future of Architecture. In Jangrandry’s words, the proposed collaborative book will consist of “a fragmented map of thoughts of hundreds of people that study or deal, in general, with architecture.” Through a combination of both curated specialist and inexpert contributions, Jangrandry’s intention is that the assemblage of fragments will function to create a cumulative glimpse at possibilities for the future of the practice.

In addition to and via the process of this research I also intend to develop an artist publication/resource for the Epicenter. The piece will function to provide an instrument for the organization’s critical reflection and in this regard, insert the Epicenter into the conversation on community based architectural practice in the US.

NOTES FROM THE FRONTIER

Samuel Mockbee described architecture as a practice which literally and figuratively houses the arts (and the artists themselves). I find this to be an apt metaphor for the Frontier Fellowship program at the Epicenter. In addition to working within the physical space of the Epicenter and Green River, a portion of my research will exist digitally on the Epicenter’s sever space in the form of an assemblage. In contrast to the clean travelogue format of a blog, Notes from the Frontier seeks to transmit a record of fits and starts, an accumulation of cancelled and theoretical proposals, references, micro “quick win” projects and other work. The web space is designed to accumulate or “pile up” with work over time. Avoiding inherit linear/sequential organizational structures, Notes From the Frontier (re)represents the organic, sometimes messy nature of working processes.

http://www.ruralandproud.org/dotdl/fellows/jr/index.html

Image: Scratch paper, probably from the late ’70s. Found in a box of forgotten ephemera lovingly salvaged by Joey from the garage of the volunteer house on Clark Street.