The Architect As Developer

The current architectural landscape of strip malls and big box stores is the antitheses of what nearly every practicing architect avails to while in the security of the academy. Upon entering the real world of budgetary constraints and hard deadlines, it seems that most architects are content to simply earn a paycheck rather than produce meaningful work. This destructive method of designing is a result of a supposed lack of choices, and can only be combated when architects have more to lose than their principles. By architects playing the role of both designer and developer, it is possible to see a more sustainable, meaningful and beautiful architectural landscape emerge. This architecture will ideally be tailored to the specific community in which it resides, it is not meant to be a prototype that can be inserted in any hurting neighborhood, or a top-down solution to a worldwide problem, but rather an example of one possible solution used to inject life back into an under used or undervalued locality.