The Living World: On Not Being Here a Long Time

International Conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (Helsinki, Finland), 2003; University of Moratuwa, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2003; National University of Rosario, Rosario, Argentina, 2003; National University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2003.

Millions of people -- it might be one-half of the world's population -- build and repair houses made of scavenged materials, live in unauthorized dwellings located in the leftover spaces of surging 'anticities,' and most certainly are seen by others (and themselves) as residue, debris, the overproduction of society. Time is critical here . . . people's well-being is at stake. Time also is of little concern . . . no matter what is done, the suffering will continue. And time is running out . . . each of us will soon be gone.

This paper asks: What does it matter to be an architect in a living world?

To address this question, an arbor being constructed in the author's backyard is described and interpreted. It is built of found materials and is impermanent, incomplete, and in need of constant repair. Related research and design activities include multiple study tours to south Asia, consideration of words and works by the architect-educators Parejo (Spain), Kawamata (Japan), and Basnayake (Sri Lanka); and the design, construction, and occupation byf seventeen graduate students of a self-built settlement made entirely of leftover materials in fall 2002.

To be involved in the world and work as self-builders is to find -- and in some cases, to re-find -- the passions for helping others and making with our own hands that brought most of us to architecture in the first place.

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