In this issue of arcCA, we explore the trajectories of the generation of architects who earned their professional degrees in the 1990s. What distinctive experiences have shaped their careers? One, certainly, is the rise to dominance of digital tools in the production of buildings. If you graduated in 1992, you probably drew your thesis by hand; if you graduated in 1998, you drew it on the computer. That sea change was framed by a set of exemplars—Thom Mayne, Rem Koolhass, Zaha Hadid, Bernard Tschumi, and others—who were emerging from largely speculative practices into the design of major buildings. And young practitioners’ paths were inflected, and in some cases deflected, by a significant recession.
Here, we hope to promote a greater understanding among the several generations represented in today’s offices. At the same time, perhaps we can offer encouragement to young architects graduating into an environment of continued technological change, beneath a pantheon of exemplars (who include members of the ‘90s generation itself), and another recession of yet unknown depth.
Originally published 1st quarter 2008, in arcCA 08.1, “‘90s Generation.”
