As a graduate student in architecture at UCLA, I walked through Frank Gehry's house as it was being completed and absolutely loved it. It was as if Robert Raushenberg had designed it -- a collage of memories and associations cut and pasted in three dimensions. Intentionally unresolved but poignantly to the heart. Messy vitality as a stand against overly ordered lifelessness. Thirty years later and as a practicing residential architect in Boston, I completely agree with Jeremiah Eck and commend him for his position and share the same frustration with the state of housing design, the failure of the AIA to celebrate the craft of building homes, and in general the professions failure to understand their role in residential architecture. Our art is to make homes and not objects to be published. Our service is to our clients and celebrating their lives and aspirations in the context of where they live and what they value and the values of the surrounding community. How does one reconcile this dichotomy ... is it enough to say that Frank Gehry's house is a work of art and not a model for young architects to aspire to? Maybe, and as Robert Campbell eloquently writes, both can co-exist and that the real problem is one of emphasis and the condescending values in the professional culture -- it has for far too long been weighted against the client. This is why only 5% of the homes in this country are designed by architects. Great article ..... Thank you Charlie

Excellent article, as always, by Robert Campbell.

This should uphold the perception in your first paragraph! But I do like Boston City Hall (if not the way it's been maintained).