Masonry Magazine August 1961 Page. 18
LEAD
MAN...
PORTRAIT OF AN EXECUTIVE
Philip Will, FAIA, President of The American Institute of Architects, is dedicated totally to the development and refinement among architects of the qualities necessary for design leadership, and recognition by other members of the design team and the public that the architect properly fills the role of design in America.
Reserved and quiet-spoken, Mr. Will is impressive both physically and intellectually. Looking younger than his 54 years, with the build and bearing of an athlete, Mr. Will strides through the myriad activities of his office with a firm grasp of its responsibilities and singleness of purpose in meeting them.
Not afraid of controversy, Mr. Will told the membership of AIA shortly after his election as president that he was deeply concerned about the future of the architect and wanted each member to share that concern with him. The future, he said, is "already withering in crisis form." Elaborating, he said, "This crisis must be understood and dealt with if architecture is to continue as a vital profession of high stature and satisfying accomplishment."
As he sees it, the role of the architect is, "... a broad mission... the responsibility for designing the second United States... the challenge is not just to anyone, but to us: The Profession of Architecture."
Mr. Will sees the problem facing the architect for us as nothing less than that of the total environment.
"The image of the architect as the designer of the total environment, the masterbuilder, cannot be purchased or be created by mirrors or hidden persuasion. It must be earned by the professional conduct, the competence and the vision to deal with the complex problems of a future which is already upon us."
Wisdom flows from self-knowledge. Mr. Will maintains, advocating intensive architectural introspection.
"We should be, as I see it, a very disturbed and very troubled profession," he said. "We need, I believe, earnest and searching reappraisal-yes, an agonizing reappraisal, perhaps of the state of our profession, its performance, and its responsibilities."
Needed changes, he said, in the approach to the practice of architecture "... must begin with changed attitudes on the part of those who practice, teach, and study architecture."
He advocates:
1) A search for a more comprehensive approach to designing the total environment:
2) A search for ways in which to broaden the scope of architectural services:
3) A revamping of the entire process of attracting, guiding, training, educating, and licensing the architect of tomorrow, right through post-graduate study and research.
Mr. Will practices what he preaches. As a partner in the nationally-known firm of Perkins & Will, of Chicago and New York, he long ago won recognition as a leading designer. In his work for AIA, which he undertook "... because I found it interesting and challenging... Mr. Will has shown that he is equally gifted as a leader.
He began his climb to the AIA presidency in the Chicago chapter where, from 1947 to 1954 he was chosen successively as director, second vice president, and president. He served as second vice president of the Institute from 1956-1958, and as first vice president from 1958 to 1960, when he was elected president of the 92nd annual AIA convention.
Mr. Will and his partner Larry Perkins met at Cornell as architectural students. After college, they started their own firm, and got their first break in 1939 by
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MASONRY - AUGUST, 19