Are designers culpable?
How do the design professions fit into this puzzle? In the not-so-distant past, architecture was predominately a regional endeavor. Buildings looked different in different parts of the world because they were built of materials natural to their regions, serving local human activities that were situated in unique climatic and geographic settings. Architects and other designers would learn their own traditions, plan settlements, and build accordingly. It cannot be denied that there were international movements, such as the publication of Palladio’s Four Books on Architecture or the spread of Greco-Roman architectural prototypes around Europe and the Mediterranean basin. But the everyday practice of designing and constructing buildings was predominately regional and adaptive. What has changed? In the second half of the 20th century, architecture became an international endeavor. It shifted from a regional, practical art to a more sculptural “high art.” As part of this development, the arc
