The tension between aesthetics and performance in architecture is a critical and complex issue in contemporary design. Architects are increasingly and appropriately being tasked with designing buildings that are not only beautiful but also functional in terms of impacts on owners, occupants, resources, and planetary ecosystems. The contrasting view, one where architecture is principally form-making comes at its peril. As Juhani Pallasmaa cautions, following this path “The world becomes a hedonistic but meaningless visual journey”
Navigating the path between form and function is central to the role of architecture in our society. It is also the backdrop to the daily routine for our guest in this episode. Keith Simon FAIA is both an architect and an enclosure consultant, two roles that move him from one vantage point to the other continually.
As Keith says in this interview Architects could be leading many of the changes society needs now but are not. I think we should all look introspectively and ask “Am I prioritizing the right things?”. This episode is both a tribute to the importance of architecture and an appeal to prioritize the lived experience of homes and buildings over the hedonic sculpture on the cover of the glossy magazine. The themes touched on here will ripple out through the AEC for the rest of our careers. It’s both important and captivating to reflect on them now. Enjoy!
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