Architectural Record: Will downsizing McMansions fatten architects' wallets?

Could an increasing interest in sustainability and smart growth be of benefit to architects?

In Architectural Record, writer Ted Smalley Bowen asserts that the move away from cookie-cutter subdivisions and the development of smaller, sometimes oddly-shaped lots could lead to an increase in the amount and quality of architects' work.

In January, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of the town of Norwell's zoning board, denying a developer's plan to tear down a house and replace it with one twice as large.

Developers and property rights groups are not pleased with the precedent, arguing that there is demand for larger houses near business districts and public transportation, and that restrictive greenfield regulations coupled with restrictive teardown laws damage their ability to fulfill that demand.

And Boston-based architect Jeremiah Eck doesn't think that regulation alone will produce quality architecture.

"It has to be about artful decisions based in the craft of architecture with full participation by homeowners, designers—I didn’t say just architects—and builders," Eck said. "Until we come to see our homes in that way, they will continue to be nothing more than speculative commodities."