What is wrong with architecture

I thoroughly enjoy when I listen to people that have a strong accent. It can be proper English, Scottish or American. However, I also listen gladly to people that have accent based on their home country, Russia, Spain, Italy.  It does not really matter why, the thing that does matter is that their speech has a soul. Soul of a place, a heritage.

Unfortunately, I do not have an accent. Not many of my friends have one. Many of us have spent a long time in a multinational, multicultural environment and our English blended with others. We each brought something, but we lost it over the years. The result is a boring, bland English without passion.

A similar thing happened to architecture over last decades. The buildings are getting more and more sophisticated, harder to build due to the complexity of individual assemblies. The result of this process is that even a simple building is designed by a big team of people. And what happens is that the building becomes a blend of the people that work on it. The average.

That does not mean it is necessarily ugly, tasteless or boring. On the contrary, I admire many buildings that were built in recent years. They are very often well designed, spatially mature and logical. It is pleasant to be in them. They are comfortable and soothing. They are made to appeal to everyone.

I find it hard to fall in love with those buildings, though. In essence, they are cold and heartless. Designed by a wrong side of the brain, they are being built for everyone. And when you try to appeal to everybody, in the end, you will reach no one.

I would love to see a building made with passion. I know of a very few architects that design with passion. I would like to see more buildings shaped by the unstoppable force of ego and devotion. And that would require a very strong personality. Someone who cannot be bent by the rules and opinions of the people. Someone who could show the people what they  need instead of giving them what they want. Because people do not know what they want. But they can recognize greatness if it lies in front of them. Subconsciously. They will be drawn to it if someone dares to try.

If we will keep doing the same thing over and over, there will not be any progress. The buildings nowadays are much too alike. Design driven by technology and not by the humanity.  Engineered to perfection. But we are not perfect. The buildings surpassed us. We need to learn to be modest and care about higher virtues again. Design with an intention to elevate our mind and pose questions instead of bringing answers.

That is the architecture I would love to experience. Unconditionally beautiful picture of humanity with its desires, triumphs and flaws. Do it for me, will you?

If you know of any architect that fights this battle, let me know in the comments.

Cheers