JK: Moments of self-reflection punctuate the life of any architect. The first occur early, when one searches for his issues, for a way to relate his own work to current thinking. They ask themselves, Should I change? What should I do next? How should I proceed? This process is crucial in order to develop a critical stance. Through it one gains the ability to think and speak intelligently about not only his or her own work, but also about the work of others. After years of practice, an architect’s thinking begins to change; he or she no longer needs to define himself or herself in terms of the vicissitudes of the discipline. At this stage, self-critical reflections become markedly different from youthful meditations. One might begin to wonder, How do I mature as an architect? What does it mean to begin the process of maturation? BT: Let’s not use the word maturity. I don’t ever want to mature. I think what you want to know is whether an architect should aspire toward a certain coherence or totality that might be identifiable as a body of work. This is a very interesting question, one that plays a large part in what one will do next. I’ll recount two examples from my own experience. The first occurred about twenty years ago—a very happy time in my life. I had just finished the Transcripts and was beginning to enjoy a bit of a reputation. My enemies did not yet know me, and my friends were very supportive. I decided then to enter the competition for Le Parc de la Villette. After the work was under way, I became very disturbed, because I realized that I was breaking the continuity of what had been several years
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