ABSTRACT
Let it be simply assumed that Architecture is an art; and an important one at that. It is a very special art in that it occupies a particular position within the fabric of the community into which it is woven. The question that I shall attempt to answer here is best articulated in two parts: What is the particular role that Architecture plays in our lives; and how does an understanding of that role constrain our conception of those who design and build our environment? In this essay I would like to consider the nature of recently emerging public art in order to cast light on our twice folded question. I shall, that is, hope to illuminate the
nature of architecture, seen as a public art, and then move on to say how that publicity constrains the notion of what the architect does; or should do. I shall aim to take us from fairly easily acceptable premises to a conclusion that is normative and which is, therefore, regulatory in our conception of the practice of the art of architecture.
