220201 RD

Out of any spiritual consideration, architecture has something to do with finding «balance in the force(s)». In the 90s Star Wars saga, the expression was defining a search that was doing any Jedi master any time. The balance was not something to get, but something to go for and to work on constantly ; like a guide.
Searching the «balance in the forces» is, in a sense a double action : first it means to identify them, and secondly to put them in such a configuration that they can balance each others, even if they are mutually exclusive. It is a constant attempt to find order in a heterogeneous whole. 

So being an architect is not only a question of creating articulations between things. It is also to see the very nature of these things : the forces. On the architectural project they are multiple ; coming from the program, the budget, the regulations, the urban rules, the political environment and wishes ; but also the static, the materials’ property, the functioning of technical flows, of insulation, water tightness ; the companies knowledge and capabilities, the hand-crafters possibilities etc. 

Of course, architect is not any kind of Jedi master, but quite an important and hidden part of its practice is to map these forces by finding the substance of each one. Any architectural process ends in a balance.