pOVERty

Abstract

The practice of an architect, where architecture means to offer or render professional services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings, that have as their principal purpose human occupancy or use.

This is a definition that was put together to summarize what architecture is all about. It’s pretty fair to say that this profession is a social profession and should ultimately deal with the human aspect, but does it? Do most architects follow this? In today’s world, it seems like the architect is put in place to design buildings that aren’t built for the client and his exact needs, it’s built for whoever can fork over enough money to get these architects to design for them. Also building ecologically friendly, forget it, buildings are built to fit on a plot of land in subdivisions and meant to look pretty for the person that is going to be buying and living in this place. They don’t pay attention to sun orientation, or preserving natural contours and foliage, they just plop the house on the lot to front the man-made road that was put in by the developer that destroyed all the natural aspects of the site. This question has come up many times; why do we design for the wealthy? Well it’s because they have the money and can get the architect paid. Since when has architecture (a social art) changed from this social aspect to a profession that thrives on money? It seems like the definition of architecture has evolved and evolved in the wrong direction. Architects need to rethink their ways of thinking and evolve, once again, back to social interaction.

While architects are out designing for the clients with the money, who is designing for the clients with very low income? Poverty rates grow every year and hardly anything is being done about it. Poverty has become one of the most pressing issues in the world, and being that we are architects with social aspects in mind, why don’t we help the low income person more? Poverty has grown every year in this country and around the world. How do architects design and build for the people that really need our help, the people where 1 in 5 children suffer from being in unsafe living conditions and parents struggle to put food on the table for everyone in the family to eat? This is the real problem that architects need to concentrate on. Poverty has almost risen to a quarter of the population, a QUARTER! That’s 1 in 4 people that you see walking down the street, or while driving your car to work. It’s sickening to imagine this and know that there are only limited amounts of helpers that actually want to help. This information has led to this thesis topic of how do we (as architects, a social profession) help fight the battle on poverty and put work for major clients on hold, getting back to the humanitarian, social responsibilities to serve the human, every human!