Building on Gutman’s (1987) argument that architectural practice should reflect the nature of the problem, this article explores four eras of architectural practice: the Patronage Model, the Clientage Model, the Transitional Models, and Future Models. Each era is examined in relation to six “Questions of Praxis”: (1) What is the nature of the problem?, (2) What is the nature of the intervention?, (3) What knowledge is valued?, (4) What is the stance toward the problem?, (5) What is the continuity in the relationship?, and (6) What is the prioritization of professional obligations? Through a comparative analysis of questions 2–5—the analytic core of action-taking—alongside four drivers of change in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous world, yields 16 possible futures for architects. Further synthesis identifies five primary roles for architects of the future: systems-thinking designer (embracing complexity), steward (building trust amid volatility), facilitator (reducing ambiguity through shared meaning), curator (making sense of uncertainty), and strategic forecaster (transforming volatility into preparedness). These roles embody a care-based approach—prioritizing ongoing relationships over episodic interventions, collective capacity-building over expert prescriptions, and adaptive readiness over static solutions. This reflects the positioning of architecture as a public good, focused on strengthening social, ecological, and systemic foundations so communities not only withstand disruption but also adapt, learn, and thrive through it.
Keith Diaz Moore (Tue,) studied this question.