Foreword

It is vital for any professional with their mind toward longevity and endurance to develop a moral philosophy. For it is exactly where one’s philosophies intersect with their actions does life really take off. A connection between motivation and outcome.

The following six tenets are a starting point—a pre-manifesto. The hope is I have the wherewithal to revise and better express myself over the years.

Tenets

Access

The practice of architecture shall always pursue and advocate for universal, non-discriminatory access. The built environment shall always support the greater over the few in all of its expressions.

Universal access to life’s opportunities is critical to the health and wellbeing of a society. Opportunity given to one is opportunity given to all—to the benefit of all.

Contribution

Buildings act both internally on their occupants and externally on the surrounding environment. They bridge time with place—synthesizing with human undertakings of shelter, safety, economy, and community. These physical constructs will inevitably outlive their initial sponsors and uses.

As such, the built environment is inherently part of the public trust and at its service.

Good

The built environment is, by its very nature, a physical manifestation. This physical-ness shall never be used as an impediment.

The design and use of architecture as a tool or system of repression is purely unethical—akin to a doctor or nurse using their position to disable or murder. Architects shall play no part in or give advice on all non-academic forms of incarceration.

Humanity

The built environment is, at its core, a human expression. Decisions in the process of building shall be made to support the joy and necessities of humans.

Humility

The practice of architecture, as with all forms of design, shall never be promoted or used as a substitute of kind in or solution to complex, multidisciplinary issues e.g. psychological, sociological, economical, environmental or spiritual.

Nature

The history of the built environment—human civilization—is fundamentally rooted in the exploitation of nature. All work shall pay homage to and respect this fact.

Vernacular architecture is high design masked as the mundane e.g. a spoon or soda can. It provides contemporaries with millennia-past solutions for very real and ongoing conditions which often persist far longer than the very civilizations they accommodate.

Summary

It is critical in an increasingly globalized, capitalist environment for professionals to lay framework for ethical decision-making. The opportunities for conflicts of interest grow exponentially as more competition is met with fragmented labor.

Written tenets provide guiding rails towards a passionate and proud practice.