Infrastructure and the Future
all those kinds of other things—that has directed decision making about infrastructure and the land use that relates to it is fundamentally changing and will be reconfigured. There is a tremendous opportunity right now for designers to step forward. Because I’m at Penn Design, I have so many different kinds of designers—and I use the word ‘designers’ even to include the artists. It’s a wonderful time to be situated in that kind of challenging interface between disciplines, when we are becoming more familiar with each other’s way of thinking. I firmly believe that everyone who is going to our school needs to be charged to stand up to a leadership responsibility. Now, whether that is your school board, your synagogue, your city, or the universe somewhere in between, you need to find a place. Because when we don’t speak up, there are many people that will speak up for us. It is a time to find every opportunity we can to hit the cracks in the political establishment. I’m sure, Robert, when you get down to Washington and you hear what I hear, which is that the Administration is saying, “Please get to the Congress and get the message to them of what we can do.” We, those who actually can form a public will— Sarah Williams Goldhagen Right. Marilyn Taylor And I think there’s a wonderful theme coming here, that Byron and Marcel started: This is not basics versus amenities; this is making sure we are at the minimum and then aspiring to much more. Sarah Williams Goldhagen One of the things that distinguishes every person on this panel is that the public role of the architect is clearly in sight and has been throughout all of your careers. And that is unfortunately not typical in practice. Hubert, how much have you struggled with this? Hubert Murray Ehm, a lot.
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