Seminar

Went to a seminar a couple of Tuesdays ago.
The same Tuesday where I hatched my evil plot to suprise Zelda.

It was sponsored by our company insurance company, focusing on the building industry, and architecture in particular.

Three speakers were of special interest.

One spoke on the need to develop and learn the new modeling software.

The second spoke about the movement of jobs to elsewhere and the need for Architects to expand their role in the life a building.

And the last talked about the liabilities and claims filed.

All spoke about $$$.

Architecture is shrinking as a profession in these United States of America.
Consumers no longer "need" or understand what the Architect provides.
(We are, as a whole, self aborbed wind bags, not in touch with 'reality'.
Uh... that means we don't comunicate too good with those outside the industry. Try looking at any Architectural industry mags and you'll see. Architects are full of it and need to change.)

Contractors increasingly provide "architectural services" "in-house" selling their clients on the "savings".

This is a fact of life. In-house "architects" are cheeper.

What the buyer is not told is, the "in-house" works FOR the contractor, and thus, there is a conflict of interest.

No one is left to protect the buyer.
No one.
Not the city,
nor the state,
nor the government.

And you are stuck with the largest $$$,$$$.$$ investment of your life.

In the traditional Architect-Owner agreement, design-bid, the Owner hires the Architect.
The design and documents are completed. Problems are resolved when it is still on paper, and not in the field.
And only after the building is defined, is the contractor selected by COMPETITIVE BIDDING.

In design-build, the contractor is selected at the same time as the Architect.
The contractor can apply presure to change the (architect's) design, thus reducing (contractor) fees, (cheeper construction, less expensive systems). It is then the architect's job to protect the Owner and make sure the Owner gets a credit instead of that $$$ going into the contractor's pocket.

When the Architect is in-house ,working for the contractor, the Architect's client is the contractor.

Now...
Guess who gets every saved penny cut out of the design...
Guess who's benifit it is to cut every corner?
Guess who's benifit the contract is written?
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There are fewer and fewer students graduating with degrees, and fewer still getting licensed.
I think a lot of that has to do with the flexibility of the new computerized testing. Without a deadline to finish, life takes over, dead lines lead, and studying gets dropped to the bottom of the "to do" list.
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"The world is Flat" by Tom Friedman speaks about the global changes happening.

Be aware...
Although the security of a Real Estate agent's job is based in the principal that land is finite and location specific, *the person selling the property has to be where the lot is physically*, the paper work, the financing, and most all the parts of the job that are not locally required, can now happen ANYWHERE on the planet.

This is good for the consumer. The foreign workers. Both governments. And the company that provides the service.
(that and it's good for , believe or not, World Peace)
Global capitalism.
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Those same folks in India who are "taking" "our" jobs, are the same people who are becoming THE best EDUCATED IN-THE-WORLD.
This being said, the ideas, the cutting edge, the concepts, are still coming out of America.
And will for a long while.

But... we have to 87u (kitty added that last, he wants to snuggle), we have to keep educating ourselves. Stop belly aching, and prepare for the possible 'sunset' on the U.S empire.

From now on, it's the individuals who will stand out and make a name for themselves...
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Architects in America will have to learn the European methods of Cad Modeling. The software takes care of the lion's share of the construction documents (the grunt work). The floor plans, the building sections, wall details, and such will be created by the computer.
The Architect will be responsible for the design, and the software will "automatically" make the changes to the door schedules. (this is already the norm in Europe)

It's similar to the old guys who didn't want to give up the drafting board for the computer aided drafting (cad). (they are still around)

The young folks coming out of college will have the computer advantage.

I wonder how this will affect the creative process.
Yes, the software can create the beautiful perspective, but who's to say how the sofit detail will be designed? And will the new kids have any idea how to create a working detail if the computer is doing most of the work???

Lot's of questions.
Few answers.
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In the life of a building, it's first thought of, "guys, we need a new building", to "let's go talk to the bank for a loan", then "who do we want to design this?", and "who will build it?" and finally, "we need to manage this new building for its life".

The design time, and thus the role of the Architect, is about 1.5% of the entire life cycle of the building. And it's about the same $$$.
As the speaker said,
"Architects are not the Tail on the Dog,
but The Flea on the Tail of the Dog."
Contruction documents can be outsourced, but not the Client-Architect relationship.

People matter most...

And then we wonder why we don't seem to be more important...
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Rather than be an Architectural stand alone firm, or a firm inside of a construction company, (ok kitty needs some of my time.... back in 30...)
we need to provide more than just design services.
An architectural firm that offers financing services.
Customer service one on one interaction.
Creative solutions for the entire project.

That and keep on top of technologies.
(How does India do it? They buy the best technology on the market, and learn how to use it)
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I'm buying the latest modeling software, at $$$$.
It's my future.

What are you learning???