The Issue of Dignity

architectsTomislav Ćurković, Zoran Zidarić
project Single Family House, Zagreb, Croatia
written by Aleš Vrhovec

 

Architecture has always been faced by a combination of circumstances, propitious or unpropitious, and the situation is no different today. Apparent today is a boom in the innovative approach to architecture, which has finally removed the disorientation of the eighties and the beginning of the nineties, led to the creation of masterpieces and at the same time raised the level of average production. This is why the media have taken an interest in architecture; this is succulent and narrative, but it is also, unfortunately, sometimes excessive. It follows the dictates of the prevailing pop culture, which appreciates only noise. On the other hand the social importance and the role of the architect have fallen very low – a profession that when it was linked up with the power of an authoritarian state was planning for thousands and thousands, has been left at the mercy of the unrestrained egoism and ignorance of “owners of 600 square meters”. In other words, it means that price has become of the essence; the first to retreat in the everyday fight for survival was professional ethics and integrity.