"...Victor, where would you lead them?" - Victor Wooten's mom

Has the architectural profession turned its back on itself? Was there ever a true sense of community among architects? If so, how did we lose it and how do we get it back?

I work in an office of approximately sixty architectural professionals, ten engineering professionals, and marketing, accounting and administrative staff. Of the architectural staff; eight are registered architects, approximately fifteen are graduates active in IPD or at some stage of registration and the rest are interior designers and drafting support. Of that total population, only three individuals are active within the AIA and I am not one of them. That is something that I intend to change this week. In fact, I have already begun the process. Another disturbing fact… none of the three active members is among our registered professionals. I do not believe that the ratio of active AIA membership within my office is too far from the norm. This is something that I would like to investigate.

Architects should be alarmed if this is anywhere near the typical percentage of support for our profession’s only national organization. We already seem to be in a shrinking profession. The number of professionals becoming registered is in decline and architects have, at best, a weak collective voice by which our profession can effectively champion the causes that everyone here may hold dear to their hearts.

The profession of architecture has continued to evolve over time. Natural evolution proceeds along the path to either strengthen the species or eliminate the species. It seems that architecture may be headed along the path of the latter. The days of the master architect/builder are long gone. The days of the general practitioner seem to be disappearing now. Architects are becoming very specialized. There are many firms today that practice only in school development, hospitals, multi-family housing, retail, etc. Has this narrow focus contributed to the lack of solidarity within architecture?

Architects also seem to be losing control over the build process. Within the State of Ohio, many public projects of certain budgets are being mandated to follow construction management delivery systems for construction. The architect’s role is diminished with this contract arrangement. The architect is no longer the interdisciplinary team leader that our college professors worked so hard to foster. Instead, Owner decisions will be lead by a construction manager’s influence and perspective; both of which may be contrary to that of the architect’s design intent. What has lead to this development; poor performance from architects to actively monitor budget and schedule? Why do we allow this degradation of our services to occur? Why doesn’t our profession instead try to correct the deficiencies? Do surgeons hand off the scalpel midway through an operation? Do attorneys hand over their case to junior staff before closing arguments? I don’t think so.

Have technological advancements contributed to these trends? The Building Information Management concept is somewhat alarming to me. Is it possible that future software will be developed that will allow Owners to answer a program questionnaire, enter a site location, enter a budget, this information will then be fed into a data base that is tied into the national building code and wa-la… out prints your new middle school? This may seem far fetched, but isn’t that the trend of technology; to take the human out of the equation? Did you ever think that a service industry position could be completed by a robot, like many of our manufacturing positions have been? Ten years ago, I could not have imagined it. Today I can.

Society has shown that it believes art is dispensable. Does society feel the same way about architecture? Is architecture without art, B.I.M. in ten years? Doesn’t that scare you? It does me.

But we can’t blame it all on outside influences. Architects actively erode their own profession. Why do architects employ “headhunters” to steal away employees from those firms with enough wisdom to train and mentor young professionals with the promise of an extra dollar an hour. And you employees willing to jump for an extra buck, do you really want to work for a firm not willing to provide their own mentorship? What value will they place on you, when the project is complete?

Architects are all too willing to turn our profession into the K-Mart special of professions by continually undercutting each other, forcing firms to reduce services after award of the contract, thus further degrading the reputation of our profession in the eyes of the Owner and thus leading to such things as construction managers. If we were provided a fair wage, what firm wouldn’t want to provide full services through construction?

How can we affect change? Do we look to the leaders of our profession, those that hold the public spotlight, people like Moshe Safdie, Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, etc. Perhaps they could lead a public symposium on the value of architecture. Show the public what the world would be like without them? Yes, we need to enlighten the public, but we have to start within our own ranks first. We need to instill a sense of responsibility for our profession and for each other as member sisters and brothers. Join your local AIA, become active, mentor the new graduate, and teach more than just theory, professional practice should not be an afterthought; community service should be a course requirement not eight hours of documented service to a non-profit organization to be turned in for graduation.

These are the topics I would like to investigate in Thesis. This is where I would like to lead them Mrs. Wooten.



Peter DeIulius commented –

1. Is this a cultural problem? “The grass is always greener” type thinking. Can we encourage our employees to feel a sense of loyalty so that everything isn’t about an extra buck an hour? What about the intangibles?

2. Look at the typical studio culture in architectural education; individual students competing for recognition/advanced placement. There is not enough teamwork in school and there isn’t enough one to one mentoring in the workplace. We aren’t taught to work together.

3. In broad general terms, contractors and cm’s are typically more aggressive than architects. The industry lets itself get bossed around which results in a loss of authority. We need to clearly articulate our value to the public and regain our status. As long as our service is considered expendable, we will always be fighting an uphill battle.

4. The industry is changing and that is unavoidable. How can we change with it?

Paul Garland commented –

I think it is just as you mentioned. Getting the AIA a stronger voice, team, camaraderie. Thanks to attorney’s, architects have let the risk factor go to the cm and with that, indirectly, the authoritative nature of the architect. I have heard said in this profession, “Why should I speak when no one listens to me”. Get that voice back.