Author Dana Cuff defines Praxis in her text, Architecture: The Story of Practice: “architecture [is] a practice or collection of practices, an art.”
As I discussed the term praxis with my mentor, she stated that the process of practicing architecture is relatively similar across the board for the development of a project, like the standard of phases and the entities you typically work with whether it be permitting, zoning, or etc. We went into a little more detail as to client/contractor relationships found in the firm. For AJ Architects, that relationship is typically established through word of mouth and then face to face meetings. My mentor stated that she believes it is important to establish trust and understanding with people in person rather than through one sided communication channels that the digital world can impose sometimes. Communication and execution is key to a successful relationship with any entity that you will work with.
3 ethical questions that came to mind from this discussion of relationship are:
- How can an architect on a project deal with unruly clients that want to save a buck by disregarding safety standards?
- How do you respond to a client that just wants you to sign off on drawings that they received from another architect?
- How can architects ensure that the final built form of the building represents what was expressed to the community and others that approved the build in order for misrepresentation to not occur?