Architecture historian Spiro Kostof describes architecture as a "social act." From the earliest ages of construction, the goal of architecture has been to create spaces to accommodate the needs of people. Today's rapidly globalizing world is constantly being sculpted and manipulated by people from diverse cultures and socioeconomic classes. As a result, the architecture profession must confront and solve even more complex challenges. The architect of the future must be able to develop places that allow different individuals to each have meaningful experiences. In order to design such a space, one must have the background knowledge to understand the needs that specific cultures mandate. A primary method of obtaining this knowledge is through social interaction.

Being that the understanding of people provides the foundation for universal design, it makes sense that architectural interns must devote their time to learning about others through social service. In fact, Section 16 of the IDP requires that an intern volunteer at least 80 hours of his or her time to community and professional activities in order to create an awareness of the various types of "people and forces that shape society" and influence architecture. However, I find it preposterous that this minimal time requirement constitutes only 1.4% of the overall time necessary to complete the IDP.

Because architecture truly is a social service, I would think that community service would be much more of a focus, both in the IDP and throughout the professional realm. In my three summers as an intern with various-sized offices in different cities, though, I have not been introduced to nor engaged in any such volunteer activities through each firm. Currently, I work for a firm that deals mainly with commercial clients, so the main objective appears to be using architecture as a marketing symbol of American capitalism. Moreover, my fellow classmates have also had similarly disappointing experiences. Perhaps in my youthful zeal I am being slightly naïve, but I believe that as architects (or a future one, in my case) we possess a moral obligation to help those in need.

In essence, an architectural internship should place more emphasis on the social aspect of design - that is, use the power to create spaces for living, working, and entertaining to help positively influence the lives of others. In recent years there appears to be a small movement in this direction. To see the substantial impact that community-based architecture can have, one merely needs to look at examples produced by the late Samuel Mockbee and Rural Studio or Bryan Bell and Design Corps. Design can be utilized to assist and improve the lives of the less fortunate.

Therefore, a more focused effort to stress the importance of reaching out to the community during the internship phase would help lay a solid foundation for a career in using architecture as a positive social instrument.