All,
A while back (few weeks back?), Greg Walker wrote a piece a bit more to the heart of the matter. What I thought was leading the earlier discuss and now Ed Shannon has resonated or augmented what I believe Greg opened with in a number of other lucid and valid observations. (kudos to Greg and Ed for "not having their head...", but I digress.
Moreover, I believe the issue of value started out with the "why is, such and such, article giving credence to Professional Home Designers and not acknowledging the value licensed Architects bring into the residential arena". It was not started as one of comparative analyses or some form of convoluted notions. The discussion was, however, more germane to the notion of the profession's worth, as well as our sense of self worth, but certainly never worthy of airing any self-promoting pontifications.
Based on the lessons found in somewhat recent history, we need dynamic, fluid, thoughtful action.
We find ourselves as "professional" architects a relatively new, yet "dying" breed. With the current professional profile or model still in its infancy, if you take into account the 100 - 200 years following a number of catastrophic urban fires and a variety of reactions to tenement blight and other physical failures, the profession drew out from under the apron strings of the upper class on into the public's eye. To note, this bicentennial experience might really only be accounting for less than one single century addressing the necessary "general" (public) HSW mandates considering the human and built fabric conditions in the United States in 1911.
Certainly, as we know it today, this turn to such a noble notion only arose in periods of similar excesses and extreme class warfare leading to and about the turn of the 20th century. With all of this said, is this same noteworthy notion or some even higher-minded platitude valid in the contemporary world?
Valid, questionable. HSW values necessary, of course, with continuing resolve and improvement. Paradox met, absolutely. Today, most will admit - no doubt - evidence of some "realignment of the stars" has occurred with over 40% of our profession sitting on the sidelines or underemployed at best.
How have other professions faired over the past several years? What are the unemployment rates in those arenas? I am afraid, with the benefit of a little direct research, we would find those losses in actual numbers will be negligible or may even be showing signs of growth omitting, of course the "bubble" pop, quasi's or allied's groups such as Real Estate, Land Development, and other non-infrastructure design professionals.
First, do any of the other recognized US professions permit relatively uncontrolled transgression or encroachment of their basic services (i.e. accountants to bookkeepers, physicians to nurse practitioners / other non-MD specialists, lawyers to paralegals / investigators, etc...). The answer is no. They all utilized their own allied professional and quasi-professional support systems to facilitate or enhance their own "professions".
Yet, as the "master builder" (Ecole des Beaux-Arts) trained gestalt architects (including the civil / structural engineering specialties) reigned supreme as site, building, and other public structure design demagogues bond to service the Robber Barons and the Aesthete few, over time, architects have shed certain, if not most, comprehensive delivery services as liability or burden. Responsibility after responsibility, the profession has shed delegating duties to engineers, limited their involvement in planning arenas to relegating interiors, bifurcated landscape design losing control of the site imagery, all the while permitting the developer customer to act as virtual "puppeteers" of the our professional base. In the latest moves, we have abandoned the master builder role entirely to the likes of construction managers (a result of liability insurance and government contracting statute manipulations) and even delivered the (built) "environment" (sustainability features, design input, and "commissioning") to those apparently more deserving "by others".
No matter, the suffix "AIA" warms the heart and lets the client know the "real" value they are about to receive in some abstract fashion, right? Well... With all of what as our backdrop, the same "fleas" are pasted down from the earlier practitioners in our,
a) Non committal, exceeding budgets and schedules,
b) Ineffective contracting controls and a failure to acknowledge realistic expectations,
c) Hand waving, artistic driven, perfectionist behavior in the more practical and imperfect world,
d) Ill-informed, delegators and even "relegators" of gestalt responsibilities, and
e) An irrespective understanding of customer issues and objectives.
With those trappings, we have built our standing "public" image (reputation) as we continue to pontificate over improvement within the current system.
If home designers or any other respected entities (respected by the consumer, i.e. Home Depot, Lowes, Bob Villa, John Doe's Design / Build & Handyman Services, etc.), will deliver, they will become the service providers of choice as a result of their respective abilities to meet consumer expectations. By no means is McDonald's or KFC food exceptional, however it is "predictable and consistent". Architects, in general, are not.
Finally, are we lost? With some form of correction, no. Of course not, but only with an underlying mantra of "never say die". Without some form of real "awakening", absolutely, yes. Oh, the profession will mutter along in its current state, losing a little more credibility as each year passes, adding corporate architects by the bushels, with Design / Build and other ADM experimentations and industry evolution models unfolding eventually entirely driven by builders or developers (or, whatever they might want to call themselves at any given time, let's just call them "$"). In other words, Homes r Us, where are you?
As with the other "broken systems", we see evolving and unfolding before our very eyes today...
What are the questions needed to develop some real world answers or combinations thereof? Are they;
a) Architect led D/B or speculative development,
b) a common Credit Union ($) to create some form of collective monetary
force,
c) some training leading to risk reduction and other necessary reforms,
d) stronger and more affective local (state) and national PAC influence,
e) statutes to facilitate different venture possibilities,
f) self insuring or blanket development insurance policies for architects,
g) more participation in areas such as COTE and more leadership in the sustainability discussion,
h) developing more AIA proprietary software packaging and stricter local RA usage mandates, or
i) containing or controlling the use of over the counter customer self help (self design) application packages in use as a part of "Owner" submission processes?
It appears, the questions raised today, requires a significant and substantive discussion. However, ultimately the need will be to apply real solutions. Beyond opening a soup kitchen at your local AIA Chapter or cross training into IT or the Medical and Senior Care sector, this resolve needs to remain our paramount focal point for actual survival or our mutual aspirations.
Finally, the written word is all fine and well, however without the necessary action to correct the ship, "Welcome aboard the Titanic".
-------------------------------------------
Stephen Dunakoskie AIA
SD Consulting---------------------------
Leesburg VA
-------------------------------------------
PS. My opinion only, "the opinions stated here..." ;)