The purpose of a building often defines the public character of its architecture. Architectural culture, through our education, apprenticeship, and practice, affects us for life. Contemporary practice is complex, based on teamwork, and itself requires design. Those who select the architect, pay the bills, use the building, and judge its success have a formidable effect on our designs and careers. Through our lives, we develop a body of ideas and principles that guides our actions.
Connections impose limits that are encountered by every architect.
These limits are always addressed in one way or another, but that is not enough. A mishandled connection can abort the project, weaken the architecture, or damage a place. In centuries past, understanding our connectedness was a natural and inevitable part of architectural practice, which was learned by doing under the guidance of an experienced architect, in the studio and at the construction site. Now it is learned in school, a more abstract and detached system, with interests and goals of its own. Because schools are removed from practice, we must make a special effort to understand the connections that sustain architecture.