| The
year summaries, in this biography, are usually written
with the perspective of many years, and in some cases,
decades. Not in this case. 2002 is a commencement
year
- an ending and a beginning; I am writing it in real
time. This is both a summary and a forecast. It
is written
with the knowledge that a different path is ahead then
behind. This transition is as great a “breakpoint”
for me as were those in 1961, 1971, 1979, 1982 and
1985 with one major exception; this one will be a smooth
one
with
no
trauma and nothing left behind, left undone. And, the
material aspects of it, the physical doing, will take
up a fair portion of 2003. |
| It
is now possible to look at the next cycle of work
as
an “end game” of long duration and sustained
payoff. This requires a different approach to life-work
style, use of assets, relationships and work focus.
I have already made most of these shifts even though
all the external circumstances necessary to support
theses changes are not yet in place. This facts of
this is how I know that
the
transition
has come even though there are details remaining to
be engineered. |
| In
terms of the work
ahead, the scale and scope of
it is
staggering. It certainly involves much bigger leaps
than any I have accomplished in the past. So why
the confidence?
Not so much confidence as the understanding that the
“real” issues can now be addressed. It
is not some much that there is proof the game can
be won
but that now, at least, it can be played. |
|
relationship
to the past... |
| My
intention remains the same. My focus is
much sharper than before. Many paths lead here
and many flow from here. Now, it is a matter of choosing
one and pursuing it to the end. They are all good
ones, these paths; almost any one will do. All will
serve my agenda although in different ways. Choosing
is simply a practical thing; a necessity. It
engages reality, and in doing this, provokes response.
Over a lifetime of work a number of projects have
emerged, faded, reemerged and now constitute a body
of work - that when built - will make a life’s work.
These, in total, are worthy of effort and will add
value
to the storehouse of human knowledge.
There has been a great deal of heuristic searching
in my process; apparent starts
and stops;
what now
STANDS as an agenda excites me and brings
me energy. “Creativity is the process of elimination
options” - I have eliminated what is not “me” and
what is left to do is what I wish to make and give
- and celebrate, as my sense of humanity and its
potential. That which does not fit here, I choose,
now, to ignore - others can deal with these things
- I have my path. |
| I
decided to become an architect 50 years ago and took
my first job in architecture 46 years ago. It has
taken me this long to define what that decision means,
and in the process, to define a new practice of
architecture. I started with a focus on buildings,
I ended up spending most
of my time on processes and systems: discovering
how buildings are made and how they fit
into the whole of the human-built
and natural environment. This quest has opened an
entirely new vista for me - the implications of which
are just now becoming clear. After a normal lifetime
of work, I find myself at the the beginning. Buildings
are not the point, it turns out; important, but not
the point. And, it is no longer a matter of human-made
buildings in a natural landscape; the scope
of architecture, today, is the entire artifact called
Planet Earth. Architecture is not only a work of
art and the expression of a single artist, it is
a social art and the expression of and shaper
of a culture - you cannot have one without the other.
Architecture has not been defined (other than a
metaphor) nor practiced in these terms (other than
by default). How we think about land as property,
money as wealth and energy and transportation infrastructure,
it turns out, has a far greater impact
on what architecture we build than factors
related to those things we normally think about as
making the basis of architecture. The architecture
of human organizations and work processes define
our built environment more than architects do. The
default (hidden) design assumptions about the nature
of life, society, enterprise and what is a human
habitat have been remarkably resistant to change
- we seem to be
playing
out an agent drama on a modern stage but the story
remains essentially the same. Architecture, like
so many other professions, has become a star-focused
systems with “names” and movements and controversy
- anything but thought and the making of serious,
useful, life-supporting art. The means for creating
architecture have greatly advanced, the appropriate
climate in which to do it is nearly completely gone.
All
of
these conditions are of a cloth; architecture reflects
society; what we are building today is the consequence
of what we have become since World War II. We have
become a consumer society and what we are consuming
is a planet, all life on it and our future. We have
become the slave to our own creations. |
| It
is a long road, by human measures, from the world
of the 1950s to today. A short one in the history of
life. |
|
| The
vast majority of people seem to live without a purpose
and a set of stated goals. I cannot understand this
and could never do it. I admit that I sometime envy
those who do
not. There is much in life that is pleasurable
just in the living of it. I have though about this
- and struggled - but always come back to a set of
things I just want to do. |
|
Matt
Taylor
Nashville
October 2, 2002
SolutionBox
voice of this document:
• VISION • PHILOSOPHY•
• PROGRAM•
|
posted:
December 20, 2002
revised:
January, 2003
• 20021220.343305.mt • 20030108.358611.mt •
(note:
this document is about 5% finished)
Matt
Taylor 650 814 1192
me@matttaylor.com |
|
|