Count Antoine Jean-Baptiste Marie Roger de Saint-Exupéry, successful novelist and ill-fated aviator, was offered – in 1942, while he was in North America – the opportunity to write a children’s book for the upcoming Holiday Season. The result would be «The Little Prince / Le petit Prince», a sort of Bible for the use of pure children.
We can imagine that the little prince is a sort of Fata Morgana that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry glimpses in the African desert where the airplane he was flying crashed, a lyrical alter-ego of the author.
We can also imagine the little prince as a new Jesus who, exasperated by the smallness of the sinful world of "great men / les grands personnes", wants to point the true way to redemption. We can also see him as an egocentrist who finds it hard to detach himself from his planet, from the little volcanoes that need to be cleaned periodically, from his flower. The little prince embodies a solitary, melancholic character, astonished and dismayed by his initiatory encounters with the beings, plants and geography of the asteroids he visits. He is searching for friendship, empathy, (universal?) harmony. In this more down-to-earth register, the little prince can be seen as a naive, curious and rebellious child – he wants a sheep (Jesus, the Lamb of God, the supreme sacrifice?) but one that wears a muzzle to prevent it from eating his flower – but above all, an anxious depressive. Disillusioned by his asteroidal and earthly experiences, he takes to the skies by returning / committing suicide (the yellow snake!) to protect his flower from the sinful world.

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Some architects who – let's assume – have "a proper upbringing", have read "The Little Prince", the Bible and a few other writings, have looked at the starry sky, the seas, oceans and mountains, have listened to the roar of the wind, the song of the birds or the howl of the wolf, have talked to grandparents, parents, neighbours, friends and enemies, will be those who have understood that "we can only see clearly with our hearts. Everything that is essential is invisible to the eye.". And it will probably be extremely difficult for these architects to satisfy the desires of the authoritarian, vain, vicious, business-minded, alienated, narrow-minded clients who – having left the asteroids where they were living in the story of the little prince – have all arrived on this earthly sphere.

But – we assume again – these architects, knowing the history of their profession from the earliest times to the present day, said to themselves: "If not us, then who? Other architects? For the same, always the same «made up» clients? ". Pharaohs yearning for pyramids, holy popes, cardinals and kings envisioning grand cathedrals and vast palaces and gardens. Or Lenin triggering (by "revolutionary" ricochet) the constructivist movement. Or Mussolini, godfather (among others!) of Italian rationalism. Or – among other billionaires – Arnault and his foundation, or – among other dictators – Heydar (father) and Ilham (son) Aliyev. This is how the history of architecture is written. And this is how it happens that the architect, if he wants to exist, will grab the pencil or/and keyboard and do what needs to be done: the project commissioned by the client.

The stubborn few, circumscribed by an honest little princely ingenuity – les grandes personnes sont décidément très très bizarres – will (probably?) refuse the complicated and dishonourable "collaboration" with such clients. They will take refuge (perhaps?) in related activities, become "experts" in large teams where responsibility becomes diffuse, or "slip" into the virtual. Imagining spaces, shapes, geometries, and paths that are nowhere to be found and which no one wants. Waiting for the client & for the moment when the building will be able to "quietly" take its place. Will they be dissatisfied, anxious, sometimes depressed? Or will they be content, relaxed, sometimes happy?
Only the yellow snake of the desert can tell us...
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"I believe architecture was a profession, maybe until the 70s of the last century, in which when asked ''can we do something'', any architect could say ''yes, we can do this, we can do that''. But I think something has been taken away from us since then, and what's been taken away from us I think is because of the way in which – whether in China, Russia, Europe or America – we've seen the market economy as the final voice about everything, and therefore this whole connection with process knowledge or the science of making has been removed, I would say, from the repertoire of an architect... Maybe it's not so sad...because I think the history of architecture is also the history of a series of incredibly irresponsible ambitions." Rem Koolhaas – interview, Strelka Magazin, 2018.
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We have learned – from reliable, verified sources – that the little prince has visited yet another asteroid where vanity, mercantilism, vice, indifference coexisted in peace. Strongly asserted, deceptively justified. Among the inhabitants of this asteroid were Z. Hadid, F. Gehry, W. Prix, R. Schumacher, D. Libeskind and a few of their less famous and not so ”gifted” epigones. So surprised and disappointed was the little prince that he did not even want to sadden his desert friend, Antoine, with yet another sad tale.
These last few lines are meant to emphasize that the little prince continues to travel from asteroid to asteroid, even making brief visits to Earth.
Be on the lookout, we may meet him!