Area's architectural talent up to the task
STATE TREASURER Timothy Cahill's proposal to standardize school building design may be an opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade ("Treasurer wants limit to designs for schools," Page A1, July 18). Rather than highlighting expensive and poorly designed schools, why not use a design competition to showcase Boston's wealth of architectural talent? A competition could open up the market to younger architects who, at a recent design industry roundtable, lamented that their services are in demand in Dubai but not in Boston. How about challenging our local architectural community to develop the best of affordable schools, of using the most sustainable and innovative new materials, and of engaging the end users (i.e., our students) in the process to teach them about architecture, engineering, and project management?
It's time to start walking the walk about the creative economy by making use of our vast pool of creative talent. With the highest concentration of architects and architectural schools in the country, surely Massachusetts can become a national model for well-functioning, beautiful and, yes, affordable public schools.
BEATE BECKER
Cambridge
The writer is director of Designing an Industry/Designing the Future, an initiative of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. 