Reflections on Architectural Practice in the Nineties

This timely and thought-provoking collection of essays offers a detailed examination of contemporary architectural practice in the 1990s. Reflections on Architectural Practices in the Nineties grew out of a year-long symposium at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, which took stock of pressing issues in order to speculate on future paths for both education and practice. Among the many challenges the architecture profession is currently facing are a constantly volatile economic climate, rapid technological change, and a general globalization of society. Reflections presents 29 essays by leading critics, scholars, and designers, essays that grapple with these and other issues and provide strategies for confronting them. Several additional perspectives are presented through brief passages and images of built work, so that the whole forms a collage of broad, diverse viewpoints. George Baird, Thomas Fisher, and Andrew Saint are among those who provide overviews of architectural practice and education. Mack Scogin, Carl Sapers, and David Harvey, among others, discuss contemporary professional responsibilities and ethics. Forms of practice in the 1990s are discussed by a variety of participants including Max Bond, David Dillon, Rob Quigley, and Sharon Zukin. Rem Koolhaas, Saskia Sassen, and William Lazonick, with others, discuss the impact of the global economy on architecture. Finally, Peter G. Rowe presents some possible implications for design education. Reflections on Architectural Practice in the Nineties is an essential compendium for anyone in the ever-changing future of architecture.