tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7178184459929182520.post7103120973733417172..comments2024-03-09T16:52:15.366+11:00Comments on Steve King about Architecture: Who is an architect?steve kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977535985183428085noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7178184459929182520.post-36186419081908503302014-05-11T14:20:45.350+10:002014-05-11T14:20:45.350+10:00greek αρχιτέκτων [architékton] - αρχι- [archi-], „...greek αρχιτέκτων [architékton] - αρχι- [archi-], „first-“ and τέκτων [tékton], „builder“. Obviously something has changed.<br /><br />This question in your article’s headline crosses my mind every now and then. It did first when my grandfather explained to me about the German Architects Registration Board and the fact that he won’t be able to be remembered as an architect having that engraved in his gravestone once he stopped paying the annual fee (he laughs when he says that).<br />Reading the article makes me think about all the great architects of history. Many of them were in fact autodidacts. It makes the definition that apparently exists by regulations and by law seem ridiculous. Le Courbusier, Mies Van der Rohe, Eileen Gray, Peter Behrens… just to mention a few… Nobody would dare doubting them to be brilliant architects at their time even if they did not finish their degrees for whatever reason.<br />The same thing with John Pawson and his St Moritz church in in Augsburg. I haven’t seen it in reality but I must say that I truly desire his minimalistic work he has done there and in many other projects. There are many “real architects” who would not be able to show this kind of sense for aesthetics and minimalism. <br />Finding an answer to the question “Who is an architect?” we might ask ourselves first “What is architecture?” – is it simply something men built or something that serves a function and is being combined with aesthetic and beauty or is it more?<br />Anyway, I also have to admit that there is a part of me that is relieved about the fact that there is regulations that do not allow just everybody to call themselves “architects”. I am looking for that day which will come in maybe five or six years when I will be able to do that. The title is not just a pretty accessory but it actually means a lot to me. It will give me sort of an evidence in black and white that all the hard work has led to something.<br /><br />I guess John Pawson is a good that shows that we are not admired for our names or our title but for what we actually do, achieve and give to the world. And I also gives me hope that there is the opportunity for talent and sense of beauty to exist and to grow.Monanoreply@blogger.com