Architecture Is, By Definition, Corrupt
Victoria Beach, an independent architect, says that going by a recent definition by lawyer Lawrence Lessig, the entire profession of architecture is ethically corrupt.
Lessig's definition hinges on whether an institution has "tragic structural flaws that undermine their own purposes for being." Beach sees many structural flaws in architecture, including being in bed with developers.
Beach writes, "The building industry has detected, enhanced, and leveraged the public's confusion over what architects do. As architects surrender their leadership positions, the odds that buildings might serve interests beyond those of their developers worsen. Many architects now sit in the back offices of these developers and are economically dependent upon them – a circumstance that was ethically prohibited a century ago."
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Published on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 in
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