Architects must recognize their role as public servants, even when designing luxury housing, insists British designer Thomas Heatherwick. Speaking to Dezeen, Heatherwick emphasized the need for architecture to prioritize public engagement and emotional resonance over rigid theories or developer-driven priorities.
โWhat I’ve learned in the last 30 years is that ultimately, we are in public service,โ Heatherwick remarked. โEven when you’re building high-end housing, if it is part of the walls of public life, you are in public service.โ
Heatherwick criticized the architectural industry for dismissing public responses. โThe tone in the world of architecture is that the public is ignorant,โ he said. โAnd I really donโt like that. We are incredibly ignorant if we think the public is ignorant.โ
As part of his Humanise campaign, Heatherwick advocates for designs informed by measuring cerebral responses rather than abstract theory. โWe talk about architecture as science and art, but I believe weโre neither being scientific enough nor artistic enough,โ he said.
Reflecting on decades of work in New York, including projects like Little Island, Heatherwick noted a shift in urban design. โCities donโt make places anymore,โ he said, highlighting how the decline of state-led initiatives in the 20th century left developers to shape public spaces, often prioritizing profit over community.
source: Dezeen
