Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of young architecture and design professionals met on Zoom to discuss the future of their profession. The conversation began with some prescient observations about how public health considerations might impact the way buildings are designed, but it quickly expanded to a broader discussion about the fields of architecture and design in general. Will human behavior actually change as a result of a public health crisis, if history is any guide? Is there a distinction anymore between the classical and the modern? Should an architect be expected to articulate their reasoning behind every aspect of their design? Even with the benefit of hindsight in looking back at the uncertain early days of the pandemic, listening to their conversation now still raises questions that resonate with centuries of debate about the fate of the profession.
Hosted by Mike Geller of G.P. Schafer Architect, the discussion featured the following speakers (in order of appearance): Kellen Krause of Historical Concepts; Dave Chessrown of N Architects; Kristina Mosco of Ferguson & Shamamian; Karl Landsteiner of Bade Stageberg Cox; Robert Khederian, real estate agent at Compass; Mike O'Neill of Beyer Blinder Belle; Rodrigo Bollat Montenegro of Estudio Urbano; Brent Buck of Brent Buck Architects; and Whitley Esteban of Roman and Williams.