Pro Bono Publico: The Architect as Developer

The profession of architecture now encounters a precarious economic landscape because of the separation of economy and the value chain. Architecture has historically succeeded on the backs of its craftspeople and the intangible tangibility of its productions. Yet, in our current economic era, where everyone is disconnected from value creation and imbibes value through the medium of brand, architecture has responded with niche reforms and feeble assertions of legitimacy. What follows is a reevaluation of its professional values in a valueless climate. From the standpoint of the architect, coupling its systemic elements with that of the real estate developer may strengthen professional legitimacy and economic relevance. A case study illuminates the theoretical potentials and limitations of the proposed model, generating a real world experiment to gauge the efficacy of the model in practice.