I'm particularly interested in the public role that all buildings play. I believe that we architects should try to go beyond our basic obligations to the public, and our opportunities to do so are many.
L.A. is so much about ratings and box office; that defines everything. And here, of course it's important, but it's not part of the culture - there's too much else going on in New York. They're not going to let one industry monopolize your attention, you know? You're likely to have best friends who are architects or newspaper reporters.
Though builders may build, in the main they follow the plans of architects. Teachers teach, but they must have a text. Politicians govern, but only upon the flow of commentary that raises them up or casts them down.
As architects we are often involved in the concrete-steel-and-glass aspect of it, but cities are social structures, and to be involved in imagining the future of cities and the type of relationships and the types of places that we're making is something that intrigues me very much.
