July 15th, 2010
VIDEO: Nothing is higher than an architect
By Matthew Blackett // 5 Comments
If you live in a place without air conditioning than you can relate to my current plight: the heat wave is making it difficult for me to sleep at night. When I find myself wide awake and sweating buckets at 3am, I sometimes sit on my couch, place the fan directly in front of me and watch a bit of late night TV.
The other night/morning, the TV gods were kind to me: they offered up a Seinfeld episode where George Costanza is handing out a scholarship, in honour of his late fiancée, to a kid who aspires to be an architect (George's fake occupation). The recipient later changes his mind and wants to be a city planner, which earns George's wrath: he revokes the scholarship. The kid ends up in a gang who later confront George by demanding that he give back the scholarship and let the kid become a city planner.
It was late, so I obviously thought it was hysterical. It led me to YouTube where I was able to find a great collection of George pretending to be an architect. I think Spacing readers, probably more than most other blogs in our city, can find joy in this collection of architect-envy.
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Great episode, and especially so for urban planners. The best part is when the kid changes his mind: "Actually, maybe I could set my sights a little higher. I think I'd really like to be a city planner."
I like to think it was a University of Waterloo alumnus that wrote that part.
Yes, great bit. Architects rarely make it on to TV (Brady Bunch excepted) so always a treat. Here is the hierarchy as I experience it:
Bank/Private Equity - funds the developer and money is king
Developer - decides what to do with the money
Brokers - holy oracle of the god-like "market"
Architect - plays in ever-smaller sandbox
Interior Designer - derided as decorators
Landscape Architect - grass, trees, what's the big deal?
City Planner - ignored other than what is legally required
Engineers - treated like a computer by any of the above
Cynical I know, but there is a grain of truth to it....
HAHA! What a pleasant surprise! I can relate entirely to George. Growing up I always told people that I wanted to be an architect. Now after getting over my idealism, I kind of wish I pursued architecture or anything design related to the city... now I'm depressed! Great post!
@ iSkyscraper: Bankers uber alles - I like it!
So, what is an architect ?
Comment by Christian
July 15, 2010 | 2:06 pm