Since COVID began, I’ve been on a conveyor belt of furious activity. When income dried up, I had to trim back on all things related to classical architecture and concentrate on archaeology alone. A big part of me would just love to stay in the relative comfort of archaeology work and leave it at that, but I can’t ignore this nagging feeling that I’m missing out on something far more important. I’ve tried to dismiss it but there is nothing worse than trying to cover up instincts and emotions, as they tend to build up and become bigger than they need be. So, how do I find an outlet these nagging feelings and turn them into something constructive and positive?
As I’ve tried to find my way, I’ve lost my direction somewhat, finding myself in places that I never would have planned to go because momentum has pulled me along. Momentum is powerful thing and we often don’t realise when we have the wind at our backs until we find ourselves at a place we don’t recognise. Conversely when we are fighting momentum and constantly facing into the wind, it’s hard not to wobble, lose balance and find yourself flat on your behind.
I’ve been living with the positive momentum of archaeology for a while now and to face back into the headwind of classical architecture is not an inviting proposition. Because of this break, I’ve come to realise just how strong that headwind is and that I had been working in relative calm of the tight-knit classical architecture community. It’s confusing, but one thing I do know is that when I find myself in the metaphysical lee of a good book, beautiful building or the support of an understanding ear, I know I’m in the right place and classical architecture is the antidote to that nagging feeling and doubt. I just have to try to rebuild that place for myself again, a place that is secure where the struggle will not wear me down.
As I write this, COVID is still rampant globally, it’s the week of COP 26 in Glasgow and the problems of the world have never seemed so vast. We can no longer plead ignorance as we find ourselves paying the price for generations of obfuscation. When we are faced with problems that we can’t ignore, it’s right to want to do something about them, but these problems seem so big that we feel paralysed by our helplessness and guilty about our inability to do more. In light of all that is going on, studying classical architecture feels incredibly frivolous and indulgent.
To work in classical architecture today is to almost exclusively work for the wealthy. I’ve done this before when I trained as a fine cabinet maker. I trained hard because I truly loved the tradition and craft, but it wasn’t long before I felt totally demotivated when working on expensive indulgent projects for obscenely wealthy clients. For me, cabinet making was about heritage and conservation, but the reality of the profession was all about wealth and status. When I recently worked on large architectural conservation projects for very wealthy clients, I encountered the exact same misgivings and discomfort and now I realise that I never want to go back into that world.
Before COVID I was beginning to feel uncomfortable about the reality of practicing classical architecture today, and now I’m positively allergic to it. I would much rather use my skills for some social good or not at all. I want to add to society and reject being part of the machine that extracts from communities and transfers that wealth (in this case cultural and artistic wealth) to those who have more than enough already.
So, what has all this talk of the environment and wealth got to do with Classicism? Let’s take a trip back in time and see where it comes from.
In the Mesolithic, there were times of relative abundance but no real way to manage these gluts properly, so it literally was a feast or famine. In the Neolithic, techniques gradually developed to allow crops to be grown carefully, dried in kilns and stored in granaries, allowing the benefit of abundance to be more evenly distributed. Moving into the classical Bronze and Iron Ages, sophisticated civilisations developed to specifically harness and consequently rely on the careful husbandry of infrequent gluts of precious resources such as the deposition of rich alluvial soil and water of the Nile valley.
In the boom-to-bust society we live in today, we have lost this precious ability to manage our resources, haemorrhaging resources at every step with the outputs of our efforts increasingly inferior to the inputs we invest. We do this because we have replaced the ability to manage resources with the ability to exploit resources, now becoming victims of our own success as these resources run dry.
Classicism at its’ core is about making the very best of what we have, no matter how much or how little, by creating value and benefits that far outweigh the sum of its’ parts. So maybe it’s not so indulgent and frivolous as it appears if we simply apply it in the right way, for the purpose it was intended for; The original solution to abundance management.
Just as the problems that we face today have been caused by an infinite number of small seemingly innocuous choices and decisions, our way beyond these problems also lays in an infinite number of small decisions and choices.
Classicism has so much to give to society. It stems from a desire to make societies and communities function better for everyone. Classical architecture was developed for this exact reason; to build homes for the institutions that make our communities work, such as those for administration, faith communities, educational institutions, trade and many, many more. This was the original purpose of classical architecture; to raise the first societies and communities from subsistence to sustainability. These skills should be available to all, not just those who have access to the most expensive schools and talented practitioners.
Seeing how classicism has been rejected by the hubris of cultural establishments that could benefit most and monopolised by the wealthy is a bitter pill to swallow. Too much study of classicism today revolves around the when and the where, but what we really need more of is the study and knowledge of the how and the why. Classicism has nothing to do with exclusivity; it’s about bringing the best that we can do individually and collectively for the benefit of all. Classicism may be facing into a headwind now, but winds will change and we can and must adapt. What seems laughable now is about to get very serious indeed.
The Impractical Architect 