This is an essay made for The AJ Writing Prize organized by The Architects' Journal.
Do architects have a duty beyond satisfying the demands of the client?
In a professional environment which is developed and matured in a balanced way in its social, economical and political context, where actors are fully aware of the profession’s complex mission, interests and boundaries, the main role of the practising architect would be to satisfy the client’s demands and no one would have problem with this. It would not be a question of wider or deeper consideration. It would be a trivia as much as the role of a lawyer is to represent his or her client’s interest. No one is questioning this simple fact but all agree this is not the only duty of a lawyer. Of course in this idealistic professional environment these demands would not be opposed to the countless other aspects of architecture than client’s needs. Further more, as default, these demands would meet the requirements of architecture’s social, technical, mental, urban and all other considerations.
In a professional environment which is developed and matured in a balanced way in its social, economical and political context, where actors are fully aware of the profession’s complex mission, interests and boundaries, the main role of the practising architect would be to satisfy the client’s demands and no one would have problem with this. It would not be a question of wider or deeper consideration. It would be a trivia as much as the role of a lawyer is to represent his or her client’s interest. No one is questioning this simple fact but all agree this is not the only duty of a lawyer. Of course in this idealistic professional environment these demands would not be opposed to the countless other aspects of architecture than client’s needs. Further more, as default, these demands would meet the requirements of architecture’s social, technical, mental, urban and all other considerations.
