ABSTRACT
New materials are developed all the time, social patterns alter quickly, the culture itself is changing faster than it has ever changed before. In the past – even after the intellectual upheaval of the renaissance – the individual stood to some extent upon the shoulders of his predecessors. Now the production of form – the shaping of form – is not something that is obviously susceptible to logical analysis: indeed, the steps involved have not been clearly formulated, ever. In denying the possibility of understanding reasonably the processes of form-production, it is closely parallel to various other famous attempts to shelter from the loss of innocence under the wings of magic and taboo. If architecture is to produce forms of quality again, its whole method needs to be changed. At present the great gift of man, his ability to shape a plastic form, is being nullified by the size of the tasks in front of him.
