ABSTRACT
Architects assume wealth inevitably fuels artisanal craft by swelling demand, bringing new blood in contact with ancient masters, and spinning off other entrepreneurial opportunities. Sometimes, that's how it works. Counterintuitively, however, wealth also kills craft. Artisans struggle to compete—for space, workers, and even ultra-wealthy clients’ attention. Baumol's cost disease (an economic theorem) illustrates how their prices are often capped, squeezing their options for survival. Using examples from the San Francisco Bay area, I unpack the context needed for successful collaborations and explain how affluence and a lack of support for the daily work in crafts shops perversely threatens the artisanal ecosystem. In the end, I argue, it's not wealthy patrons that keep craft alive—instead, it's a sector architects and elites often shun.
