This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Residential Knowledge Community .
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Here's a scenario I've seen played out too many times in my 35 years of practice: A homeowner discusses their plans with a builder. They get a limited number of options with little or no design sense. This is because most builders work within a very narrow range of possibilities in order to guarantee their financial success. An architect, on the other hand, can take the realities of program, budget and schedule and with their training, synthesize these and the more esoteric aspects of design into something that goes beyond merely "adding space".
I would like to see the AIA at the National, State, and Local levels start a series of Public Service advertisements that clearly show how architects work with owners, what they do as part of their service, how they engage with consultants and how they can make the building process a rewarding, exciting and joyful experience for owners.
I would suggest not using the Kohler advertisement showing a homeowner asking their architect to design "something around this" as an example.
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Vincent Oles AIA
Salt Lake City UT
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