Yesterday, in the middle of an article on medieval masons, I found a throwaway line. The author didn’t elucidate. They moved on to the main point, but I couldn’t. At this stage I was five hours into book chapters and journal articles and slightly drunk on other people’s words; everything seemed profound so I just scribbled it down and moved on. This morning I saw it again – and it still feels important.

“Everyone who has had experience in the building trades knows that construction work proceeds on the basis of answering questions, that is, of making and implementing decisions on the innumerable technical problems that arise during construction.” (LR Shelby)

This may not feel important or newsworthy to anyone else. Perhaps it just caught me at a moment in my career when the balance between being the questioned and the questioner is beginning to shift. But it seems one of the simplest explanations of being a good architect that I wish I had seen before. It doesn’t presume to suggest answers – stylistic or technical – but it does imply that good architects need to have them.

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