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TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY 



upon his own resources alone. Under 

 such circumstances, collaboration in de- 

 sign and in professional direction ouj^ht 

 to begin. The client, if he knows enough, 

 may impose such collaboration as a con- 

 dition from the start. Rut, in case he 

 does not, a conscientious professional ad- 

 viser, when called upon to do the work 

 alone, will advise the client that better 

 results are to be secured if he can have 

 associated with him one or more colla- 

 borators. This is all equally true, wheth- 

 er the client first turns for help to an 

 architect, to a landscape architect, to an 

 engineer, or to an experienced amateur 

 who has just married his wife's second 

 cousin. It may not appear at the start 

 that collaboration is advisable, but when- 

 ever it does appear the need should be 

 frankly recognized. 



No qualities more ruinously impair the 

 value of a professional adviser to his 

 clients, or more directly violate the basic 

 principles of all professional ethics, than 

 the mental qualities which prevent a man 

 from saying "I don't know ;" which lead 

 him to abuse the faith of a trusting client 

 by undertaking, and pretending, to do 

 what he is not properly capable of doing. 

 Some do this through blind conceit ; some 

 through a sort of indecision, and a feel- 

 ing of false shame at owning any limits 

 to their capacity ; some, unfortunately, do 

 it out of sheer cupidity — the quacks and 

 semi-quacks that infest every profession. 



All this, perhaps, is beside the point. 

 Every one will agree to it. The real ques- 

 tion is, when collaboration begins, how it 

 can be most expediently conducted in or- 

 der to give the best results for the client. 

 My own experience points to the follow- 

 ing conclusions : 



When any designer is charged with the 

 primary responsibility of getting certain 

 complex results for a client, and need is 

 felt for the collaboration of another de- 

 signer, the simplest relation is to call in 

 the latter in a consulting capacity, simply 



as a critic and adviser. The consultant 

 takes no responsibility for results : his 

 connection with the work is but a pre- 

 cautionary measure. It is still assumed 

 that the designer is able to carry the 

 whole responsibility in a competent man- 

 ner, but, because he is subject to ordin- 

 ary human frailty, the consultant is asked 

 to examine his designs for possible un- 

 observed defects, to examine the problem 

 for possible unconsidered factors, and to 

 supply from his experience and skill vari- 

 ous items of information and various sug- 

 gestions which the responsible designer 

 may adopt, if his judgment so dictates. 

 The consultant answers, as well as he 

 can, any questions he may be asked : he 

 volunteers any suggestions that occur to 

 him as likely to improve the results ; but 

 he does not undertake foreseeing that all 

 the details necessary to the perfect execu- 

 tion of the end in view, or any specified 

 part of that end, have been and will be 

 properly provided for. That is the duty 

 of the responsible designer : and he can- 

 not be relieved of it without confusion. 



If he is not fitted to cope with the 

 whole of that duty with reasonable as- 

 surance of attaining the degree of perfec- 

 tion which is desired (as might happen 

 to a landscape architect charged with de- 

 signing and executing a public park in 

 the development of which an important 

 and monumental building or bridge be- 

 came necessary, or to an architect 

 charged with designing a building in con- 

 nection with which serious questions of 

 relation to surroundings, or of treatment 

 of surroundings arose), a collaborator 

 should be called in not merely in a con- 

 sulting capacity but in the capacity of 

 responsible designer for certain elements 

 of the whole design. 



This brings up relationships, which of- 

 ten give rise to difSculties. 



In any case where two or more pro- 

 fessional men collaborate there may be at 

 least three kinds of relations, any one of 



