Jane Jacobs on Experts


Her leitmotif was a swipe at the whole notion of expertise. She went to work for Architectural Forum, she told me, when the Office for War Information was consolidating its staff in Washington, and she didn’t want to leave New York. . . .

“I went to Architectural Forum, and they said well, you’re now our school and hospital expert,” she explained. “That was the first time I got suspicious of experts. I knew nothing, not even how to read plans.” She paused for a moment. “Anybody who would want to be an expert, I have some advice for you: apply at a magazine.”

From an article by Paul Goldberger.

One thought on “Jane Jacobs on Experts

  1. I hate to get political.

    But I think this is all part of the reason why many libertarians like myself feel uncomfortable with the the Democratic Party (not that the Republicans are much better…but at lest they seem to support the empowerment of state and local governments and have more of a hands off approach to regulation).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *