I agree with Leland about size and font type.

You need a good graphic design.  Maybe this could emphasise the CRAFT, e.g.

Convergence:
Architecture &
 C  R  A  F  T

where the CRAFT is in a larger type such that it spans the same distance as the two previous lines.

Also, why not work actively on defining 'architecture' as the outcome, not as the discipline or what architects do.  If you define architecture as the product, then it is the contribution of CRAFT to architecture that is important.

Cheers

david

>>> Leland Torrence <[log in to unmask]> 28/12/99 9:18:49 >>>
][<en,
I think size and font type are the key.
That being said re-read the first part of the Standards piece for IPTW 1999.
The origins and developmental history of the AIA and the AIC are interesting
studies in rhetoric that repeats itself, the purpose is the same, elevation
of status a trade be it building, designing or preserving.

Best,
Leland

----- Original Message -----
From: Ken Follett <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, December 27, 1999 10:43 AM
Subject: Help in Convergence


> Help in Convergence
>
> Recently I took on the voluntary position of Executive Coordinator of the
> Preservation Trades Network (PTN, an APT Task Force -- which BP, the
> independent voice of the preservationeers, is not), a position formerly
held
> by Bryan Blundell. Business at Apple and dealing with the PTN leadership
> transition, which is a personal activity and not Apple related, have kept
me
> fairly occupied in my leisure.
>
> I need some help from BP.
>
> As EC of PTN I am in a position that requires I find ways to facilitate
the
> needs of the preservation trades within the preservation industry. Sounds
> interesting, but for the most part I don't know what that means and have
to
> make it up as I go along. Please feel free to help me make things up.
>
> The theme of IPTW 2000 is "Convergence: Architecture and Craft." This I
> inherited, and I do not want to appear ungrateful to the kind people who
made
> it so. My problem is that I'm wondering if I am off base in believing
there
> should be a transposition in the wording of the theme to "Convergence:
Craft
> and Architecture". The International Preservation Trades Workshop (IPTW)
is
> an event organized by the trades for the trades; it is a gathering of the
> preservation trades. If Native Americans are hosting a potlatch you do
not,
> in good taste, advertise it as "Convergence: White Men and Red Women." To
me
> there seems to be something amiss in the wording "Convergence:
Architecture
> and Craft", that I feel oddly piled with. Possibly, Convergence: Craft
> Invites Architecture"? (I would not go as far as, "Convergence: Craft
Screws
> Architecture".) I think it is too late to change the order of the words,
but
> I do need ideas on how to make good with them, or at the least, get this
duck
> squat out of my head. The preservation trades, as well as being a resource
to
> the preservation industry, embody the "knowledge of process" and I believe
an
> invitation from the trades to convergence should be in the form of the
trades
> inviting the architects to share in this knowledge, and not the other way
> round.
>
> Another problem that I have with an architect/craftsperson convergence is
a
> tendency on the part of some individuals toward patronizing of the
> craftsperson. A convergence becomes more difficult when a radical voice
> within the preservation trades believes that architects are useless
idiots.
> An irritable attitude devolved from random experience? Please don't take
the
> 100% useless gripe as my position, as it is not. For the Negative Heads in
> the trades it is a position, a strong one, but one that I suspect is
mostly
> heard when the speaker does not suspect to lose business or reputation
from
> the audience. Timid bravado. An attitude expressed in shoptalk, usually
> between friends, built up on an escalating need to confirm justified cause
> for the complaint as in, "You know what that idiot architect told us to
do?
> Do you believe that?" Regardless of the speaker's stated belief, they
remain
> convinced that the architect affects their ability to procure paying work,
> and even iguanas know it is often bad business to speak plainly. The sense
of
> suspicion on the part of the trades, that architects will betray them,
> precludes communication and convergence.
>
> In general I agree with my craft and architect peers that there are many
> less-than-competent design professionals to avoid, and only a few handfuls
of
> workable architects and craftspeople. As well, there is a need for the
> camaraderie of togetherness, as the breed of architect that is patronizing
to
> the preservation trades seems as likely to be patronizing to preservation
> architects, and would be unlikely to find themselves on BP to begin with.
>
> Wording is a sensitive issue that needs to be addressed; otherwise the
> aggressive constituency within the PTN will feel alienated - in turn
leading
> to a weaker voice of the trades. As it is my charge to develop the "Voice
of
> the Trades", I need the aggressive voices, as they are usually louder,
that
> is, if given a forum where they will speak. As to how you train "Loud
> Shouting" into communicable voices I'm not quite sure and expect will not
> soon find out short of PTN issued muzzles and collars, what some
> affectionately refer to as "Tasking."
>
> Lastly, I do not fully accept the rumor that the trades have historically
> been relegated to a "minor" role in the process of constructing the built
> environment and that it is only with our New Age of Enlightenment that the
> trades should be brought back to their rightful place at the table. The
> craftspeople have always been, and remain, with the Builders. To portray
it
> as otherwise, that the crafts ever had a "lesser" role, I think is a
biased
> rewrite of history. What is correct is that the design professionals have
> been allied with the intellectuals, with connection to the printing press
and
> writings, and have held an undue influence in the realm of ideas whereby
to
> make their power myths prevail over those of the oral bound and spatially
> oriented craftspeople. The trades build the table that we all sit at.
>
> ][<en
>