Small Project Design

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  • 1.  RE:ARCHITECT

    Posted 12-16-2011 10:30 AM
    Not this subject again.........

    Look,the designation has been in use by the computer industry since the early 1960's. The earliest reference I've come across is from the book "IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems" by Emerson W. Pugh, Lyle R. Johnson and John H. Palmer. 

    The phrase Computer Architecture appears to have been coined by Fred Brooks, an engineer for IBM. He was managing the development of a new mainframe product line, and was looking for a way to adequately describe the complexities of designing the human/machine/software/circuitry interface. From the book....

        "The principal initial objective of Brook's design department was to establish an NPL (New Product Line) "Architecture", a word he had recognized during his 1959-1960 sojourn in Research as one that might be useful for distinguishing overt (user-related) aspects of a computer's design from the inescapable welter of design detail. When he joined DSD in 1960, he sharpened the term and used it to characterize aspects of his work with Blaauw on the 800 series. Later, before working on NPL., he defined the term as follows:

    " Computer architecture, like other architecture, is the art of determining the needs of the user of a structure and then designing to meet those needs as effectively as possible within economic and technological constraints. Architecture must include engineering considerations, so that the design will be economical and feasible; but the emphasis in architecture is upon the needs of the user, whereas in engineering the emphasis is upon the needs of the fabricator." "

    Like it or not, the use of the term architect or architecture is well entrenched in another industry. The AIA or any state board in not likely to completely wrest it back. If it is to be a fully restricted/protected title, it therefore needs to be done so in a way that recognizes an attachment with the construction industry.

    Perhaps Building Architect, Architector ( a nod to the Realitors...), Building Designers?.........

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    Rudy Beuc III AIA
    Architect
    R. Beuc Architects
    Saint Louis MO
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  • 2.  RE:ARCHITECT

    Posted 12-19-2011 06:35 AM
    If we don't learn to reach out to a much larger cross section of society, the survival of the word Architect may be in the hands of computer programers. The word originates as "head mason" in ancient Greece and eventually evolves into "head software programmer" 3000 years later in America. That whirring noise is Iktinos & Kallikrates rolling in their graves wondering what software is and if it carves as well as marble. Let's not let them down! Reach out to regular people! Help a small restaurant get a permit, design a renovation for a neighbor's house, and give them the minimal effort for a minimal fee and you'll reach out to a level of client we normally ignore...the majority of Americans. There are no RFPs for regular people work, it's right under your nose in everyday life, just pay attention. All I have to do is mention that I'm an Architect and 9 out of 10 times I hear a story about something wrong with someone's house. Most Architects I know will cringe when hearing a regular guy complain about his regular guy house, but I hear a potential job brewing up. Who says you need a millionaire's budget to achieve a nice design? We'll never survive if we become more exclusive than we are now.

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    Eric Rawlings AIA
    Owner
    Rawlings Design, Inc.
    Decatur GA
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  • 3.  RE:ARCHITECT

    Posted 12-19-2011 09:21 AM
    Thanks for the great reference!  This is the first time I have seen it in the many discussions on this subject in print, LinkedIn, and here.

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    Richard Linsky AIA
    Associate
    Nalls Architecture, Inc.
    Narberth PA
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  • 4.  RE:ARCHITECT

    Posted 12-19-2011 12:36 PM


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    Peter Carlsen AIA
    Carlsen & Frank Architects
    Saint Paul MN
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    I understand wanting to defend the word "Architect."  It has come to be a substitute for "designer."  When I raised the issue 25 years ago at Grass Roots, people looked at me like I had lost my marbles and then were careful to correct me when I used handicap instead of disability.  

    It has seemed curious to me that the "disability community" operating out of wheel chairs could convince the culture that the word handicap was a slur, begging cap in hand, when the mean referred to an old game of chance where lots were drawn from a cap.  

    So the possibility of changing word use in society is there.  Politicians seem to bend and restrict word use all the time.  Why can't architects protect there own title?




  • 5.  RE:ARCHITECT

    Posted 12-20-2011 10:13 AM
    Mr. Beuc is correct. The only solution I see is to get every state jurisdiction to accept the term "Registered Architect" with the use of the initials (RA). Although some jurisdictions use the term "Licensed Architect", it should not be to difficult to have a nationally accepted term used and limited only to those who are authorized to use it.  It should be as recognizable as the initials MD or JD.

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    Mitchel Abramowitz AIA
    Mitchel Abramowitz, AIA
    Roslyn PA
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