.the.compromiser.

Another paper i wrote for my Practice & Governance class. Topic: the architect, the businessman, and the integrity in between...

Integrity…the value of being true to the ethical or moral code. Integrity + architecture…the value of being true to the creation of spaces for people. Integrity + architecture + business…the value of being true to the creation of spaces for people as trade for an agreed monetary value. 

Idealism vs. realism. Many do charity but not all the time. Architects may work for free but not most of the time. As much as architects would want to practice their profession with no-to-profit-and-just-pure-service, it's unrealistic. The world has become so complex from a once-so-simple society. It's now in a phase of simultaneous creation of spaces and buildings for the satisfaction of development and redevelopment of the society. With the endless needs and wants of the people, demands for more spaces and buildings are inevitable. Consequently, demands for planners, developers, and architects among others become inevitable too. People, whether they like it or not, have to pay for the involved professional’s service, time, expertise, and genius among others. To oppose the famous saying, the best things in life are not really free. 

Heart vs. mind. Many feel for the frustrated society. Many think of their future in it. Architects realize spaces for people. Citizens need money to survive. Architects are also citizens. They may spend all their lives building and building and creating spaces. However, architects cannot just commit to their profession. They cannot just carry the vision of being an architect. They should also commit to a balanced society. They should be self-supporting citizens able to survive. And they consume to survive. They need money to live. They need more money to live in comfort. But at the end of the day, architects still have their visions as the great Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “A great architect is not made by way of a brain nearly so much as he is made by way of a cultivated, enriched heart.”. 

Compromise vs. compromise. Many believe in just black-and-white. Many live in gray. Architects meet balance. To survive, things should give and take. To live, everything has to meet halfway. After all, people get to have two sides of the coin as Winston Churchill believed, “We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us.”.