Architecture and our duty to beauty

"Beauty appears to be too fluffy for public policy. Its benefits are not clear and measurable, and its very nature too much a matter of subjective personal opinion. But if politics ignores beauty, then we are in trouble, because it is a public good and it matters when it is not protected. So we are left at an impasse. We have a public good that needs protecting, but no one will do so enthusiastically because no one feels qualified or mandated to make the kind of decisions about beauty that such protection requires."

Essay in today's Independent