Monument to Instrument (Paperback)

Architects must play an important role if American society is to survive climate change and immigration.  Defining ourselves as artists limits that role.

This book argues for a redefinition of architects as the experts on the relationships between humans and built environments. Architects must come to the public rather than asking the public to come to them. Consequently, the book attempts through “straight talk” to avoid the poetic language prevalent among architects writing about architecture.

The book has six sections: A prologue describes the author’s path to the book; A collection of the author’s experiences illustrate the chasm between architects and the public; A brief iconoclastic history of western architecture describes the profession’s focus transitioning from monuments to instruments; Proposed changes to the practice of architecture designed to enable the architects to become, and convince the public they are, THE experts at the relationships between humans and built environments; Proposed changes to architectural education designed to develop those experts and produce more confident young architects; and An appendix includes a short professional biography of the author and an annotated list of the author’s favorite books.

The author’s position arises from principles developed during 50 years of practice, including: “Radical Functionalism,” practicing towards tight fit based on comprehensive programming; “Extreme Programming,” inspired by the writings of Ian McHarg and Louis Kahn’s conversations with bricks, a belief that there are many right answers and definitively wrong answers; “Legitimate Individuation,” searching for right answers based on a wide-ranging discovery of specifics of the project, including site characteristics, client wishes, current architect enthusiasms, community concerns and locally available skills and materials; and “Everything for a Reason, Artfully Done,” a goal that we and the client understand every move’s purpose and that every move contributes to the art of the project.

Mike Mense, FAIA, has a 1973 Virginia Tech B.Arch. with highest honors and a 2016 CCNY master’s in urban design. Leading mmenseArchitect(s) since 1979, he chaired the 2012 AIA Committee on Design and, with morphosis, won the Alaska Capitol Competition.