Second, the growing complexities of our functional
problems must be acknowledged. I refer, of course, to those
programs, unique in our time, which are complex because
of their scope, such as research laboratories, hospitals, and
particularly the enormous projects at the scale of city and . . , 1 .---
regional planning. But even the house, simple in scope, is
complex in purpose if the ambiguities of contemporary
experience are expressed. This contrast between the means
and the goals of a program is significant. Although the
means involved in the program of a rocket to get to the
moon, for instance, are almost infinitely complex, the goal
is simple and contains few contradictions; although the
means involved in the program and structure of buildings
are far simpler and less sophisticated technologically than
almost any engineering project, the purpose is more complex
and often inherently ambiguous.