#chiarchitecture The focus above on architecture personalities, firms, and institutions is not intended to discount the more grassroots presence of architecture on Instagram. Perhaps the greatest impact architecture has through Instagram is with crowd-sourced imagery populated by amateur photographers, soon-to-be architecture students, world-travelers and tourists. The platform gives everyone the opportunity to share what were once highly personal encounters with the built environment. Searching #architecture delivers over 28 million tiled results. Some are clearly spam, and clearly not architecture. It is likely that a majority of these posts are not by architects. There are multiple motives at work here: those who wish to associate with the broad cultural coolness of architecture and those who want their photography to join Instagram’s catalogue of architecture images. In both cases, this contribution by the general public speaks to a relevance beyond the architectural community. The magic of the digital revolution was the newly sunken threshold for participation in global conversations. Both individuals and international organizations have the opportunity to impact architecture’s presence on Instagram despite their vastly different scale and intent. Instagram gives the ability to showcase architectural ideas, inspiration, and impact through sketch, model, image, construction and final built work. It gives the opportunity to demystify the design process and this poorly understood profession. Architects (individuals, firms, media, and institutions) must better embrace this opportunity to improve upon the current state of relevance and continue to share the profession’s passion for architecture with the world. An image remains the most effective means of communicating the values, aspirations, and true impact of architecture. ■
WWW.AIA.ORG/YAF
FEBRUARY 2016
31