Why would we give more power to the real estate business? Training them a little will inflate their already poor regard for architects. The only reason they recommend an architect to do residential architecture, is because they cannot get thru the local red tape and "do blueprints". The real estate people 9 out of 10 times have their "favorite, best Contractor" in tow to solve any design problems and give costs that have no basis in the actual building costs
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With 32 years in my own firm, I think that things have gone from bad to worse. We do drawings -not to show the Contractor what the client needs to build, but what the local building officials, guided by their lawyers have determined is necessary to make sure that the Architect is legally responsible for what ever might happen in the field. Design reviews are only to dictate whether we use casement windows w/o muntions or double hung w/ muntions. Residential Zoning laws..by lawyers..outlaw any housing to accommodate handicap or seniors by requiring that each unit have a minimum of 1 or more acres.
This not the way to get better residential architecture! Homeowners deserve so much more! ACCESS FOR ALL is no laughing matter in the residential market. The seniors trapped in or out of their own homes are a root cause of the medical cost problems we have.
Architects have the talent, the information and skills to lead the way in energy usage, handicap accessibility and
quality living, yet we take a back seat to the Home Builders who have been dictating the design taste of the American family, leaving us with McMansions, front steps with 8" risers that are impossible to navigate.
I could go on, but this is just one more place Americans are being cheated out of affordable homes that should last for 100 years.
What to do? Insure that new architects are trained to put building materials together, not just design spaces so that contractors don't laugh at their designs. The recent generations have all the tools for presentations of their unique designs but don't know that it takes a minimum of 3'x5' of space for a toilet. That you don't bear a steel beam on a wood plate. The disconnect between architectural education and the real world out here is staggering. There is a lot to learn, but worth every minute spend on details. The apprenticeship program needs to be hands on experience out in the field learning to convince a Contractor that you do know something of value and that working together will serve all of us and our clients well.
PS I love being an architect because I have so many tools to use.
Ann Dunning AIA
President
Ann M. Dunning, AIA, Inc.
Chagrin Falls OH
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