Core77

There's a (heated?) dialogue going on between John Thackara and Cameron Sinclair over JT's recent piece on Design Observer. If you missed the original text, we blogged it a few days ago. Choc full of Thackarian nuggets on the benefits of staying in the backyard, the essay focuses on the benefits of locality and culture (which, by the way, happens to have striking similarities to a graduation speech funny-man Patton Oswald gave in June....read it n weep. please.) Regardless, Cameron Sinclair's got some interesting responses (to Thackara, not Oswald). Here are a few bites:

"I find it a little arrogant of writers to speak of design and architecture as a 'western' or 'developed world' notion - and then occationally insinuate the 'look at what they are forcing on them' self-guilt world view. There are designers, both licensed and unlicensed, all over the world. They are not divided by boundaries but by skill and desire. There will always be the Zaha Hadids and Karim Rashids of this world but there are also the Diebedo Francis Keres, the Rodney Harbers and the Yasmine Laris of this world. For as many designers working in the realm of architectural plastic surgery, there are just as many working in the emergency room. The difference is that the latter are not seeking accolades and therefore do not grace the covers of magazines and the design media. In addition to training more global architects we need to encourage and develop new schools of design where the work is. Ie currently we are training 70% of the worlds' architects in the developed (over developed) nations, yet 70% of the work is in emerging nations.

Yes, there are a dozen 'examples' where we can point to designers screwing up, getting it wrong, undervaluing the input of the community. Yet there are hundreds of stories where quiet moments of innovation have been an element of incredible change in a community. Most of us who are actually building look at bemusement to all the structures going up in Dubai and Doha - why are those deemed as great feats of 'design excellence' but yet a community led participatory process is often scrutinized by cynical, often western, eyes.

Perhaps it is time to write stories of the successes on the ground. Come join any of us, but do expect to pick up a shovel when you are on a site visit."

Read the entire response at Doors of Perception.