Small Project Design

As architects, we all have encountered potential clients that do not value our servcies, and even some of our current clients may not fully value our services.  It is up to all of us to better educate the public on the value we provide the design process.   This is somehting that can be done form early on in elementry and high school to community group presentations, etc., getting involved in your community and sharing opportunities to celebrate the work that you have done through open houses, mailings, websites, etc..  There lack of appreciation is a direct response to their knowledge of what we do.  As architects, we are all in the education business in an effort to help improve the built environment, every day of our career.  Frank Lloyd may have been a great architect, but he was an incredible salesman first.

To quote Mahatma Gandhi, "We must be the change we want to see in the world."

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Peter Leoschke AIA
Mead & Hunt Inc
Madison WI
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Not to discount Peter's comments, but I believe the lion's share of this outreach effort should be directly under the charter of the AIA.  If for no other purpose than to tailor and support the message delivered by architect providers to their clients.  As many have already identified, many architects struggle with describing the value proposition they offer and I believe this is the prevailing reason architects are generally devalued or misunderstood; there is no common ground of understanding by the public at large and the messengers are generally poor communicators of the message.  

I deal with these issues virtually everyday in my practice and have for over 25 years in practice.  In that time, I have come to realize that even those that think they understand what an architect does, really don't; they may have an appreciation of a particular aspect to which they have been exposed, or see the architect as a necessary means to their end. But most people I encounter don't have more than the most rudimentary and often misguided appreciation for what it is Architects do.

I challenge the AIA to support the industry in this effort.
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Mark Prichard AIA
Owner
Link Architecture
Austin TX
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