An architect is trained to think of each building as a discrete whole, bounded by its sides and top. An object understood on its own; more simply put, four walls and a roof. A program is understood, the needs of the inhabitants are thought through, and a shape is made to wrap what goes on inside. If the program is lavish, if the architect is a sculptor and makes a statement with each work, the shape is fully considered from all sides. This isn’t about the rugged self-reliance of the architect. Those who commission the building, and those who build it see it as a very singular act, governed by vague notions about ‘fitting in’.

In the 1970s, Oscar Newman led a study out of Washington University regarding issues of territoriality in the spaces near and between buildings. His thesis was that the way that buildings were arranged can and did physiologically affect their inhabitants as well as those who were passers by. The results of these studies resulted in the landmark book, Defensible Space. The study and book launched a movement that offered the idea that appropriate design could be a deterrent to crime and a basis for building a healthy community.

Craft is one of the great endeavors of people. It is in the act of craft that people become the most like their Creator.