Live/Life

We have to, through the radicalism of realism, propose alternatives; do research with defined goals and find side effects by surprise, which are probably more interesting than what we're searching for. Some people talk about a problematic position the architect is in right now; I don’t agree with these thoughts. Architecture is first and for all to develop ideas and strategies. We should not complain too much about the position of the architect, but invest our energy in developing ideas and discover new directions; and of course, build them. There is a tendency at the moment, with architects, to transform knowledge into strong form; let us say aestheticize and/or concentrating on challenging the limits of the possible programmatic conditions through reversible projects. We have to understand that we can’t only think global in this plural-cultural society in which differences should be seen as positive issues; we have to also develop specific strategies. We have to understand these differences and accept them to gain from them.

Wiel Arets, Lecture at the TU/e, October 14, 2002