Matthew Walker - The Mobility of Architects

Chan I agree whole heartedly when you argue that mobility can be a disadvantage in term of architects working in different parts of the world and not understanding the country in which they are designing. In the last issue of soap magazine I wrote about Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh and how he did not understand the people he was designing for. There is an interesting quote in the book ‘Chandigarh forty years after Le Corbusier’ describing his interaction with the community. His stay in India was limited to ‘hobnobbing with the elite, visiting a few villages to find some decorative motifs that he would then use as tout symbols, and meditating under the azure sky’. As a result various parts of the city don’t work. In a more modern context a Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid are in the running to redevelop the pilgrimage site of Mecca. Mecca is a place where none Muslims are forbidden and as a result the architects would be designing blind, relying on flat images from computer to inform their designs.

However despite agreeing with your argument I wonder whether it is necessary for us as designers to live in a surrounding for a month or a year to understand it or whether it is possible to learn what we need to know through our clients? A good client, architect relationship could result in the production of buildings and spaces that understand their surroundings and the needs of its users.