Architecture's Class Struggle

Architects believe that theirs is a helping Design at the University of Texas at Austin. profession, writes Benedikt, director of the And just what is the nature of the service they Center for American Architecture and provide? Well, this is seldom expressed out loud, but, as much as anything else, it is "to preserve or elevate the class of their clients."

Architects, of course, do not confuse class with "money or material wealth, old or new," says Benedikt. It is a matter of exhibiting "good taste and refined behavior"—and certain architects stand ready to offer their clients instruction in acquiring these. The fact that the "star system" has become so entrenched in the architecture world, Benedikt maintains, is due "at least as much to the star-architects’ lifelong commitment to, and success at, promoting their own class status and that of their clients as to their hard work and design talent."

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