Where do the children play?

Rummaging through old music. Reminiscing. Looking for some solid nuggets to share with my eleven-year old. With all the sonic junk on the waves today. Sew a good seed; I say. And…there it jumps at me.

Where do the children play? I heard this before, I’m sure. Or did I?

“Well I think it's fine, building jumbo planes. Or taking a ride on a cosmic train. Switch on summer from a slot machine. Yes, get what you want to if you want, 'cause you can get anything.
I know we've come a long way, We're changing day to day, But tell me, where do the children play?
Well you roll on roads over fresh green grass. For your lorry loads pumping petrol gas. And you make them long, and you make them tough. But they just go on and on, and it seems that you can't get off.
Oh, I know we've come a long way, We're changing day to day, But tell me, where do the children play?
Well you've cracked the sky, scrapers fill the air. But will you keep on building higher 'til there's no more room up there? Will you make us laugh, will you make us cry? Will you tell us when to live, will you tell us when to die?
I know we've come a long way, We're changing day to day, But tell me, where do the children play?”

Still current and relevant as ever.

Yusuf (Cat Stevens) a closet environmentalist?

Only the relevant survive.

One thing is clear; this recession changed the architectural practice forever.  The economic stress exposed weakness in firm's hierarchy and structural cracks that are beyond repair.  

Staff discovered (to their horror) that their leaders, the ones behind the glass walls and personal secretaries, know no more than they do.   And when the rain stopped the rainmakers could not conjure a drop of rain to save their lives.

The lesson of this recession is; only the relevant survive.  And some of the big names in the business are obsolete and lost their relevance.  Sadly, some of these firms will limp along for a while but may not survive.