Article 28, Everything Beautiful -The Architect's Hippocratic Oath

Look at us we're beautiful...MOBY

Let's talk about one of the unwritten rules of society which is a staple of architecture; beauty- the passport to....everything. In this world of political correctness where everyone is told to believe they are "special" and everyone is awarded a participation trophy many will, at a minimum, scoff at this view of beauty and the rest will be offended. To those people I say keep being offended,  hopefully that scowl on your face won't become permanent, that's not so beautiful! For the rest of you that are curious, or those that just want affirmation to what you already know, keep on reading.

Beauty is of one of those concepts that you can't exactly define but you know exactly what it is. It's many things; it's pure physical appearance,  it's kindness, simplicity, it's mysterious, it could be in any form even invisible such as love. Beauty can be found everywhere and in everything, from the superficial to the profound. You don't need to be an expert in anything to recognize beauty. Typically we can spot beauty instantly even without training or being able to produce a rational explanation, you just know most of the time. You may love a certain building and not know anything about architecture, you may love music and not understand a single note but the most mysterious beauty we judge and we do it in a nano second are in people. I must conclude, and this is of course NOT based on scientific study, that the ability to recognize beauty is innate in all of us -you typically don't need to be taught what is beautiful and what is not, you just know. The social behavioral guy just threw up, OK I get it I'm an architect and this is an architect's take on beauty!  Why is this so important to architecture you may be asking when beauty in many cases is superficial and not even understood by most? Well for the architect it would "behoove" (nice cliche word) to understand what makes something beautiful because you will not be fooling anybody with poor looking work. People, as I mentioned, know beauty and can easily critique any form of it. There is a rational reason for this type of judgement beyond the subjective and it has to do with evolutionary survival (I write about this in depth in my book), however for now know that beauty is far more than skin deep and a matter of importance in many ways. For example, it is known that those things that are beautiful in a society endure and are more loved as David Hawkins states in his book Power vs Force (Page 193) " Older cultures seem to have always understood the practicality of beauty- that  that which is designed without beauty quickly deteriorates. An architecturally ugly neighborhood becomes part of a feed back loop of blight and violence; the sleazy, dehumanized housing projects of urban ghettos manifest their weak  power patterns in squalor and crime." 

The things that endure like neighborhoods, cars, clothing, human behavior and anything else you can think of including aesthetically desirable people owe their longevity to beauty. People, for instance, who are beautiful whether intelligent or not get more opportunities, more attention, more passes and more privileges than anyone else? I suppose it's a "Catch a fly with honey rather than vinegar" kind of thing, good looks being the honey.  (I know this is blog a about architecture just roll with me) So I am stating the obvious; everyone already knows that very good looking people enjoy perks the rest of us do not. So how is this related to architecture - Think about it, you don't need to be beautiful to recognize or create beauty. However I believe recognizing or better yet creating beauty enhances one's own beauty. Have you ever seen a beautiful person act callous or arrogant? Their behavior lowers their physical attraction generally speaking and vice versa a somewhat not so handsome person who acts kind, does good deeds or creates beautiful objects increases their physical beauty exponentially. An architect that creates poor work risks becoming ugly themselves-that does not stop the sprawl architect I know and they must live with that, which many are able to do but they are not proud of it I can assure you. But go back to David Hawkins statement in which he proclaims "only beautiful things endure". What do think of the person who designed a beautiful Ferrari regardless of their appearance, (assuming you don't know their personality)? How beautiful is a nerdy awkward millionaire? Oh wait a minute, scratch that, off topic not relevant to this discussion. No doubt that the beauty of a creation which indeed if it is beautiful, like a Ferrari, would transfer itself upon the creator of such a beautiful thing. Could you ever call god the creator of all mankind ugly? So the alternative lesson to be learned here is you can gain cache, good looks and beauty through your works of creation and enhance yourself and the world at the same time. You can also denigrate and make yourself ugly even if you are handsome in appearance by continuing to create strip malls, parking lots and sprawl developments.

Unfortunately, in our society especially here in North America, money trumps beauty. It's short term thinking and many architects fall victim to it I'm afraid to say. The power of money supersedes and clouds judgement even in the face of beauty and good deeds. Architecture is one of the nobler of arts and those that engage in it should take the Hippocratic Oath of architecture which states :

Modern version Modern version of Hippocratic Oath revised (in red) by me Lewis Portal.

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those ARCHITECTS in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the CLIENT, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of SELF AGGRANDIZEMENT and DESIGN nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to ARCHITECTURE as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the ARCHITECTS PEN or the MONETARY drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a CLIENTS recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my CLIENTS, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death OF A COMMUNITY. If it is given me to save a NEIGHBORHOOD, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to DESTROY A CITY; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humility and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat EGO, a cancerous growth, but a PERSONS HABITATION, whose DESIGN may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the BUILT ENVIRONMENT.

I will prevent BAD ARCHITECTURE whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the UNINFORMED.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of DESIGNING FOR those who seek my help.

Written (Revisions in red by me AD) in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University, and used in many medical schools today.

" but of all the arts, architecture is the most tangible and influential in the lives of men everywhere.  We live, shop, go to work,  and seek our entertainment in buildings; thus, the form of the structure itself deserves the utmost attention, because its influence is a background to so much human activity." page 192,  Power vs Force 


Article written by Lewis Portal for Architect Denied