Fair Warning

How much should the architect allow his client to say about the plans for his new house? Not too much, says Philip C. Johnson, director of architecture and design at Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art. Reporting his recent speech to the American Institute of Architects, the current issue of ARCHITECTURAL FORUM quotes Johnson's fair warning to prospective homeowners:

"Too many times an architect takes the attitude that his client can call the tune because he's paying the piper. Often the client gets in the way of an architect's creative ability . . . An architect's first duty is to his art. The real art of architecture is monumentality--something that will make you gasp . . . This is what every architect has to think about . . . You can't get this artistic experience by simply following the client's wants. Your client is not an artist. If he were, he probably wouldn't have come to you for assistance."

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