HKS Architects's podcast

David Lancaster, senior advocate, Texas Society of Architects notes Thomas Jefferson was architecture’s political rock star. Unfortunately, he’s just about the only one the profession ever had. Generally speaking, architects don’t get involved in politics. It has been 30 years since an architect was elected to the Texas Legislature, and 20 years since one was elected to Congress. An AIA article recently said the last five years had seen the rise of a political movement committed to waging war on public spending, especially to fund capital improvements. These projects must be funded either by taxes or bonded debt, neither of which is acceptable to fiscal extremists. If you don’t participate, even as minimally as voting – just voting – tomorrow’s jobs could disappear. From now on, architects ignore civic responsibility at their own peril – threatened with unemployment, if not irrelevance. You invested too much to get where you are, so don’t le