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How connected do architects still feel to the profession? More Dear Architecture letters explore that question

2015-09-23T18:02:00-04:00

While it's just as important to have serious discussions about the future of architecture, so is taking a hard, honest look at its present state. And if the letters from the recently concluded "Dear Architecture" competition indicate anything about how individual architects perceive the field right now, things are looking bleak.

Organized by Blank Space, the competition invited entrants to write an approximately 500-word letter addressed to Architecture, whether as a concept, a social practice, or a community. The 12 Honorable Mention entries, although written as seemingly fictional anecdotes, consistently expressed feelings of disconnection with architecture — topped with a melancholic tone that is just yearning for the better.

Read the 12 Honorable Mentions in their entirety (listed in no particular ranking):

1. Aditya Ghosh

"Dear Architecture,

It’s paper, exactly 9 inches wide and 15 inches high. It’s two dimensional, flat and featureless. A shade of white that is incapable of any ex...

"Dear Architecture" winners write fictional letters addressing real problems in the field

2015-09-16T13:05:00-04:00

We surely have loads to say about the architecture profession, but how would you compose all those thoughts into the good ol' classical form of a letter? The "Dear Architecture" ideas competition asked its participants just that.

Created by Blank Space, the same people who organized the Fairy Tales Architecture Competition, "Dear Architecture" entrants had to pen their own 500-word letter to architecture — whether as a concept, a social practice, or as a community — along with an illustration to supplement their letter's message.

Entrants from over 60 countries responded to the brief. Not too surprisingly, the letters got upfront and personal, if not a little bit heart-breaking.

The jury — which included Fernando Romero, Elena Manferdini, Hani Rashid, Natasha Jen, and Archinect and Bustler's very own Alexander Walter — selected three top-prize winners and 12 Honorable Mentions.

Read the top three letters in their entirety below.

1ST PRIZE ($1,500): Craig L. Wilkins, Ph.D., RA

"Dear Archit...