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Opposite: the concept of value embedded in property, with the rapacious Land Octopus sucking the lifeblood
from the people, on a postcard published by WR N orthrop in 1925
Above: a Rai stone, a unit of money used by t he people of Yap Island in Micronesia, displayed outside a shop on the island:
although Rai are still exchanged by the Yapese in traditional ways, the official currency is the US dollar
ne of the largest coins in the world is 4 metres in
diameter, weighs several tonnes and sits at the bottom
of the sea. The }Iicronesian islanders ofYap carve their
curren cy from vast boulders, driving holes through t he
centres to form 1nassive stone doughnuts. Dotted about the islands,
t hese 'Rai' have no intrinsic value and are effectively immobile, and
yet they serve t he same purpose as the notes in your wallet or t he
numbers in your banlc account: t hey are money.
Mor e than 6,000 Rai exist and have been exch anged for everything
from land and livestock to dowries, their owner ship moving between
families even while their physical location remains static. It is
unimportant where a ston e is. ""~Thether deep in the jungle, under
t he water, or on the pavement, what matters is who can lay claim
to its value. The stones are giant physical abstr actions for the worth
conferred on t hem. As long as t he Yapese collectively agree that t he
stones are valuable; t hey are.
The architectural scale of t his curr ency is unique, but in function
it is barely different from t he euro, pound or yen. E ach stands in for
a social contract, an agreement to suspend scepticism and treat an
inanimate metal disc or cluster ofpixels (or big rock) as if it h ad
meaningful value, in t h e confidence t hat other s will exten d the
same favour in t h e f uture. The b alance b etween the status quo and
r evolution rests on t h ese agr eements. Ever y day, we jointly choose
to continue honouring the value of money. If overnight we all
decided our coins were worthless, or if Yap turned its back on Rai,
their value would evaporate.
Today architects are merchants of value. Speak to any developer
about what an architect brings to a construction project and the
reply will be that they 'add value'. Their taste and ingenuity combine
in a potent tonic, 'design'. Attend the annual ~IIPIM property fair
in Cannes, and you'll see ar chitects from across t he world boasting
of how their design skills add value. Structures which minimise
material use; plans which give their inhabitants a sense of openness;
lush facades bursting with visual character - all t hese architectural
moves are boiled down to a single qualifier: value.
Ho-wever, what constitutes value and how it is arrived at are
somewhat more elusive. Despite its centrality to architectural
labour, very few architects seem to enter t he profession pursuing
this trophy. I n the interview rooms of architecture sch ools around
the world, wannabe students have answer ed t he admissions' t utor's
question, 'so, why architecture?', by describing a deep desire to add
value to a client's property portfolio. Visiting a cathedral for t he first
time, children are frequent ly struck dumb by the value added to
an otherwise humdrum chapel by its masons weaving an intricate
lace-like tracery of vaults. Mor e so than '\rith most other disciplines,
there is a gulf between t he traits which make architecture ent icing,