Architecture - the ‘YES’ profession par excellence - can deeply and
critically learn from the culture of ‘NO’.
What if the architect would systemically cultivate the
uncomfortable yet urgent art of saying ‘NO’? How many architects
really acknowledge that declaring ‘NO’ to irrelevant briefs or other
impertinent opportunities is a fundamental social responsibility of
the profession? And can this ethical ‘NO’ be considered productive
for the public good? The self-evident though elusive answer is:
‘YES’, of course. This small-scale series offers an inclusive stage
for architects, artists and designers who have claimed ‘NO’ at a
crucial point in their professional career. It wishes to put to the
fore the rewarding but scarce praxis of critical abstinence.
The quote ‘I prefer not to’ originates from Herman Melville’s short
story ‘Bartleby, the scrivener: A story of Wall Street’ (1853).