Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten introduces two fun characters; Ralstom Holcombe, and his wife Kiki.  The description of him was great. I could picture him perfectly, walking down the street with his staff, dark suit, and brightly colored shirt sticking out because of his grand belly. I found his attitude towards architecture to be very cool at first but then found he was stuck in the beliefs that gave most of the architecture world short comings. Later on in the chapter there is another example of how the major firms are unable to deliver to there customers because they believe in rules of architecture. 

Holcombes wife Kiki is described in a way that I found disgusting. I’m not sure exactly what it was but I could just tell she was so full of herself that the only friends she has are because of her status in society.

We learned a little more about Francon’s daughter. I don’t think she is a “good” person but I really enjoyed her character and her rebellious spirit. She doesn’t seem to have many friends that can keep up with her sharp tongue but she has many admirers because of her amazing beauty. Keating seemed to have done better than most and he was very taken with her. I’m afraid he is going to do the wrong thing and pursue Dominique (Francons daughter) and lose Katie. That doesn’t seem so bad to me because he does not deserve someone like Katie.

At the end of the chapter Roark finds himself working on a project for a customer that really wants something new and different for his home. Roark designs something probably perfect but then the “experts” at his firm wreck it with there rules of architecture. As the customer complains Roark steps out of his expected role and without saying a word starts drawing on top of the drawing the artist had made. Synte fires Roark for this outrage but unknowingly let him draw long enough so that the customer (Austin Heller) saw that Roark was the man for the job. He took Roark to lunch and gave him the job of designing and building his home.