Easy Solutions

 
I would like to tell the leaders who have recently gathered in Washington that Universal Solutions will not work to ease the pain of the common ilk to which I believe I belong. Their gathering is somewhat belated and after the horse has bolted but they should think hard. Global trading at the frenetic level that we have seen will only lead to even greater hardships for all.

Like architecture, the economy too is about finding the right scale. I am realising that my own livelihood has become dependent on things and events totally beyond any capacity to control - why should this be the case? Do we no longer have birthrights? Can we not determine our own futures at a smaller scale? I think people can see that the more we consume and indulge the richer we will be but in this condition how long can we last? I know there is urgent work to do around my neighbourhood to make it better, tidier and more durable but all this work will be left undone because in the modern world, order is a low priority matter and so money won't be found. Some people say I'm an idealist. Maybe so but I just tell them that I believe in improving the practicalities of ordinary living by the way in which urban spaces are made and used. Surely that's the simplest of my jobs as an architect.