As I read "Architecture and Education" I couldn't help but to think about The Fountainhead. The climax of the story occurs when Howard Roark blows up the brilliant building he designed because the people building it were taking the beautiful structure he created and turning it ugly. The beauty of the building was in what it would accomplish for society. It was perfectly designed for impoverished people who could not afford housing else where. The people in charge of it's construction decided thy physical beauty was not good enough and decided to "improve" upon it. Reading "Architecture and Education" was like jumping into the mind of Howard Roark and understanding how he created his buildings. So many people think beauty is physical when they need to understand beauty is a concept.

Orr stars with this quote:
The worst thing we can do to our children is convince them that ugliness is normal.

If we don't teach the next generations what is wrong, nothing will change. If we don't show them how a building can be ugly (no matter how many flowers are planted around it)then how will they learn to make it beautiful?

I think our society is starting to move from ugliness to beauty. More and more we see and hear about fair trade, environmentally friendly and sustainable methods. Many of these ideas are new and just starting to get under way and they will take a long time to bloom. Habits are hard to break, but I think we are on our way to breaking these habits by teaching the next generations what is ugly and how to make it beautiful .