by Linda G. Miller
Event: Robert A. Silman: Technology and Values in Architectural Form
Location: Center for Architecture, 10.05.09
Speakers: Robert Silman, PE, Hon. AIA — Principal, Robert Silman Associates; Kenneth Frampton — Ware Professor of Architecture, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Organizer: Center for Architecture as part of Architecture Week 2009
Sponsors: Kohler; Kramer Levin; Solco
An apt subtitle for this talk could be “Architecture from A to Z…and E is for Ethics.” When Robert Silman, PE, Hon. AIA, started his practice, clients would come to him with design challenges. His response, back then, was “let me think and get back to you.” Today, however, due to technology, engineers can do anything! But the question, according to Silman, is ethical, not scientific. The question is: “not can I, but ought I?”
Silman was a philosophy student at Cornell prior to attaining his undergraduate and masters degrees in civil engineering at NYU. He cites as his hero philosopher Han Jonas, who wrote about “The Imperative of Responsibility” which centers on social and ethical problems created by technology. As president of his structural engineering firm for the past 43 years, he has directed all phases of its operations and employs a set of ethical principles in his office. “It’s the grey areas that make for interesting discussion.”
Kenneth Frampton began what he called an “Alphabetic Aphoristic Reflection on the Relationship Between Technology and Value — at the interface Between Architecture and Engineering” that was derived from structural engineer Auguste Perrets aphoristic Contribution to a Theory of Architecture in 1952. Beginning with A is for architecture and ending with Z is for Zen, the entire alphabet follows for your consideration, contemplation, and conversation. Read it here.
To watch a short video about Silman, shown at the Heritage Ball, go to the Podcasts website.