UNION STUDIO BLOG
The Whys of the Work
Spring found a way to arrive. Now that daily “commutes” have become walks just for the sake of getting outside, it’s easier to notice the symptoms: birdsong, hyacinths, the green halo of budding trees. These are vital reminders of all that exists unbound by the anxieties of our life indoors.
The “what,” “how,” and “when” questions that commandeer this indoor anxiety wait patiently at the door: what is our path back to ‘normal?’ How do we get there? And when? These feel a little like the “what,” “how,” and “when” questions that occupy 95% of our professional life as architects: what mechanical system meets our space constraints? When do we need to finish these drawings? Zoom, Teams, or GoToMeeting?
These kind of questions map out our work, but their daily piling up can separate us from the “why:” why have we committed to the work of physical places? Why do we do architecture?
There are go-to answers that even a burned-out greeting card writer would find insufficient, much less designers surveying the post-pandemic landscape ahead. And as architects are arbiters of so much that affects the public’s daily life, this public should also demand our work be buoyed by clear convictions. Perhaps at this global inflection-point of discombobulated whats and hows and whens , sitting in front of the somewhat arbitrary background of a new decade, it’s worth reconnecting with some stronger whys.