By CARROLL L. V. MEEKS
The recent history of the architectural profession is charged with significance for the future. We must consider the status of both the practicing architect and of architectural education since they are interrelated. About fifteen years ago, the profession went into a sort of public eclipse. The war has demonstrated to the public once again that, architecture is more than engineering and is indispensable to a well-ordered state. The younger architects, both those who have been educated since 1930 and those who have led the new movement, have proved to the public satisfaction that they have unique and valuable skills capable of wide application, as useful in war as in peace. It is necessary, therefore, to look at what has been accomplished in the recent past, since this will affect the future. It is also necessary to forecast the philosophical, technical, and social milieus of the future since, unless we have some idea of what is ahead, we cannot plan the kind of education that will be needed.
The profession has met with two shocks--in 1930, the depression, and in 1940, the war. In 1930 the engineer and the, contractor were being given jobs, which according to tradition, should have been the architect's. Before the depression, there had been plenty of work for all three groups. After the depression, the public wanted efficiency above all and felt that they were more likely to
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