On Building Standards

Everybody, no matter their preferences, wants high-quality buildings. The question for architects and society is whether we can achieve it. We can’t just write the words "high-quality buildings" into the code and assume it will materialize.

• The modernist mindset says that quality is difficult, so we should be careful about requiring standards. If we don't get it right, it might look worse than if we didn't even try. It could look over-designed, so it's better in the short-run to do what we're familiar with. However:

  1. We shouldn't celebrate where we're at (for being "authentic") instead of improving, even though improving is challenging.

  2. We shouldn't be idiosyncratic as a way to avoid standards. Some architects "intend" to do quirky buildings that break the rules, so when the building fails, they can say, "Actually, it's a success because I wanted to break the rules."

  3. We shouldn't think of ourselves as geniuses, like we're too good to listen to others, especially if the standards are well-written. 

• The traditionalist mindset says that quality is difficult, so we should copy successful examples from the past. But unless we understand the principles behind them, we will likely fail. Bad replicas are fine for a while because failed attempts at past successes provide better examples to learn from. Only then can we understand design principles well enough to use them creatively.

• All architects want to do good work. Modernists should at least "play the game" as Lutyens said, even if that means putting up with bad replicas until we can figure it out. Traditionalists should look at history as a means to an end, not as the end in itself. If the past had already figured everything out, there wouldn't be a need for the future. Architects should build in an authentic way that solves basic architectural requirements. We should work with past styles (including early Modernist styles) to get there, since there is no other way to do it.