Architectural Designs and the Structure of a New Normal

Kevin Huber, a Seattle architect and intrepid world traveler, recounts his training decades ago at the University of Cincinnati and discusses the engineering of new levers of top-down influence over the industry and society. Concepts and practices of the “15-minute city”, “sustainability”, “certification”, “Net Zero”, “living building”, “Agenda 2030”, and other related enticements, nudges, and programs of influence are also addressed. Huber calls attention to the age-old folly of organized attempts to centralize planning and control in a world of dynamic interactions of unpredictable human beings across cultures. In citing the example of one of man’s greatest inventions — the city — he strikes an optimistic note for the future arguing that current efforts to wield such uniform control over the world are doomed to failure.