ABSTRACT
There are moments, for instance, when the decline of the yen has a direct impact on my professional and personal situation. The outcome of the French elections might dictate where I live and work. . . . The most crucial project I ever worked on fell through because a politician had accepted an illegal trip to Thailand as a bribe. Some days Cable News Network seems like an oracle, a kind of private bulletin board, as each story hits nerve endings directly related to my work and my private life. For the modern architect, this condition is a twenty-four hour source of anxiety.
