ABSTRACT

Deception has long been viewed as unethical, counter to the virtues of honesty and fairness, and yet it remains a common practice of people at large because they often think they will – and sometimes do – get away with their deceit. Architecture teaches us that sometimes deception can be useful, as when a building has elements that hide something the designer doesn’t want seen or that provide balance that improves a composition. Postmodernists have sometimes argued that deception often remains a matter of opinion, but unlike aesthetic slights-of-hand, ethics shows how much dishonesty ultimately does not pay, as architects who have engaged in it have found.