文档介绍：Social Ends, Technical Means
This essay is an updated version of an article first published in Architectural Design, 9-10 in 1977.
When the Willis Faber and Dumas building was first published most magazines at the time began and
ended their coverage of the building with pictures of curved glass walls and high technology. Whilst one
should not underestimate the importance of such technical means, for me they have never been ends in
themselves. The ends are always social — generated by people rather than the hardware of buildings.
However, the relationship between ends and means is a vital part of our approach. Together with my known
association with Buckminster Fuller, any study of the practice’s earlier work, from 1963 onwards (without
which it would have been impossible to contemplate this design) should make clear our position on
adopting what we believe to be appropriate technologies in achieving social goals.
In a fundamental sense the building is really about people and their place of work. Socially, of course, this
is a moving target. Herman Kahn, American futurologist of the Hudson Institute, once made the point that
those office buildings that failed to anticipate what he saw as inevitable social changes would simply
e obsolete if they did not respond by raising standards and providing a high proportion of amenities.
In his view, these