Discussion: Cost-Efficient Building Means Sustainable Building
Complaining about clients and costs and the limitations these impose on one's creativity is the done thing among architects nowadays. Some, indeed, know how to exploit the media in support of their case. One explains that a project has assumed such a modest form because too little money was available for the architecture. In our opinion, arguments of this kind are based on an elementary misunderstanding of the role of the architect in the planning and construction process. Cost control must precede cost-effective building. If one takes the notion of "too little money" to its logical conclusion, only two professional perspectives remain open: either the architect reduces his role to that of a facade decorator, or he becomes a media star whom investors are prepared to pay, in order to obtain building permission more quickly and thus more economically. That, of course, would place our professional competence and social relevance in question. A refusal on the part of architects to face up to the cost issue would mean that others would assume responsibility for this area, with the result that the influence architects have on the planning process would be reduced. Moaning about a lack of financial means is, therefore, one of the most counterproductive arguments we can indulge in.
