ABSTRACT

Building in the public realm has always involved the reconciliation of a large variety of interests. Building is a form of expression, and public building should express something essential about the time and place and the nature of the society. Traditionally, this complex of interests was reconciled in the work of the architect. The prevalence of design review is evidence that this scenario is not working today in the U.S. The problem addressed by design review is in reality a problem with our public discourse in general, and its expression in the built realm in particular. The model proposed for the proper functioning of the public realm as an arena for discourse is based on the notion of action as defined by the philosopher Hannah Arendt A view of design as action requires the both an appreciation for the prerogatives of individual actors as initiators, and a recognition of the unpredictability of the results of any initiative. The public could attend to the first more carefully by basing its responses on an understanding of projects as engaged in processes rather than as static objects. Architects might consider the second in the light of the origins of their ideas about control.