it's for the better...

...some semi-inspiring notes for the start of 2011:

remember-architecture is first and foremost about place & space...the objectification of architecture will come [ca.1990] and go [RIP Oct. 2008], but it is always about shaping the emptiness, defining the void, and making the invisible tangible. -taow, jan. 2011

...and a cautionary tale about a path already travelled:

an excerpt from Witold Rybczynski's recent article regarding the young architect's [and client's] need for adapting to the new economic climate [Slate.com]:

"What will happen to the anti-rationalists in this new, responsible world? It's not easy for an architect to change his spots—just look at the diminished fortunes of Paul Rudolph in the 1970s, or Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in the 1980s. The big names will coast on their reputations, finding commissions in increasingly obscure corners of the world. Turkmenistan, anyone? The losers will be the current generation of young graduates. Trained in the arcane arts of parametric design and generative architecture, they will find themselves facing a world of chastened clients who demand discipline, restraint, and common sense. Big chill, indeed.