Housing and Community Development

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Perry Cofield AIA
Design Ways & Means Architects
Arlington VA
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With all due respect, your position on services for homeowners is a slippery slope.  If you do the Preliminary and sign off, you have joined the ranks of medical practitioners who are now pretty much governed by insurance companies and pharma- you have taken a consulting fee off the top.  One result is that psychiatrists, for example, are no longer more than a lone opinion (at best) in determining what to with a patient.  If we choose your course, best not to design anything that a builder can't execute as a matter of routine.  Might work if you know and trust the builder.  Little wonder our stature diminshes. 

Our worth is diminished because homeowners have little choice when it comes to design if we choose to turn our noses up to them. By eliminating 97% of America from our exclusive club, that's how we marginalize ourselves and thus diminish our importance and worth to society in general. If someone only makes $50k per year, then they aren't going to spend 5 figures on a theory. It simply won't happen and this is the average American, the majority of society. This same group will spend 4 figures all day long and I make a decent living off this type of work by not over doing it. If we simply adjust our attitudes about what it takes to design a project for an average American, we will open up the possibility to greatly expand the profession, expand our numbers, and we will expand our worth when the people realize that they don't want to get along without us. We can't expect this to happen in reverse. We can't just design houses that regular people can't afford for fees they can't afford and expect them to think this is obtainable or a viable option for them. We can't force regular people to fit into our current business models, we need to adjust our business models to fit the needs of the many, not just the few.

A small design problem is a design problem none the less. A thoughtful Architectural design doesn't require all the extras. We created that mentality. At one point in time, not too long ago, buildings were erected with much less and these magnificent structures still stand and are admired by all of us. The GA State Capitol Building was built with 4 sheets of paper and is far more detailed than many of the buildings being built today. FLW's houses were far more detailed as well and we've all used more sheets of paper to do much less. Toward the end of Wright's career he realized a need to provide affordable housing to the masses and his final Usonian period was geared exactly for that. He provided high end design that a middle class person could afford at a time when the military housing model was applied to the housing industry creating the God awful suburban model that has become the bane of our existence and rejected us from that sector of work. This was Wright's last stand in the 50s. He got it.

Read the Natural House by Wright and you'll get some insight into his realization about providing good design for all, while using Natural materials. It speaks of sustainability before we understood the need. During the 50s is not only when the suburb was created, but this is when all of the unnatural materials began to "revolutionize" our lives. Had he lived another 20 years, perhaps he could of helped convince us to do more about resisting the suburban model and blindly accepting new materials for the sake of using something new. He provided affordable modern designs with ancient materials while his competitors embraced the new, unnatural direction. At the last GreenPrints conference we listed all the pros and cons about the materials we use and at the end of the discussion it was the natural materials that by far had the least amount of cons. It's the cons that cost us the most in terms of money, our health, and our coexistence with the nature that has so graciously allowed us to exist in the first place despite our ungrateful, arrogant attitudes as a species. For each benefit we receive from unnatural materials, we tend to have at least two consequences. We found that the more we manipulate nature to create new, unnatural things, the more consequences we create that are often not realized until decades later. Society embraced the new housing model, the new materials, and we marginalized ourselves to a select group of clientele and now the whole industry is so broken, how do we fix it? We need to lead the charge and break the housing trend by adjusting our attitudes and business models to redirect America. We have to learn to provide design for the masses or we'll fade into the history books as Engineers, Homeowners, and Builders replace us. It's times like these that give us the opportunity to change things. If we don't take hold of the steering wheel, then someone else will!

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Eric Rawlings AIA
Owner
Rawlings Design, Inc.
Decatur GA
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I couldn't agree with you more, Eric. We document a lot more than a good contractor needs for building purposes. However. when the GA state capital was built, the building codes were probably one or two pages at most, there was no ADA, no NFPA, no Fair Housing Act, No IBC, buildings were built by artisans, not businessmen, and lawyers had better things to do than create tort turmoil.
My first house design was three sheets and the house came out great. I can't get by with fewer than six sheets today, even for a smaller home. I admit, most of which I document today is not needed for the building but is needed to satisfy the local building officials and cover my butt from lawsuits.
I can only see this situation getting worse and who pays for it? Certainly not the contractor. We architects pay with less profit, the client pays with higher fees or the client simply seeks a cheaper alternative, mass produced plans. 

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Thad Broom AIA
Architect
Thad A. Broom AIA, P.C.
Virginia Beach VA
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-26-2011 08:01
From: Eric Rawlings
Subject: Don Duffy post

Our worth is diminished because homeowners have little choice when it comes to design if we choose to turn our noses up to them. By eliminating 97% of America from our exclusive club, that's how we marginalize ourselves and thus diminish our importance and worth to society in general. If someone only makes $50k per year, then they aren't going to spend 5 figures on a theory. It simply won't happen and this is the average American, the majority of society. This same group will spend 4 figures all day long and I make a decent living off this type of work by not over doing it. If we simply adjust our attitudes about what it takes to design a project for an average American, we will open up the possibility to greatly expand the profession, expand our numbers, and we will expand our worth when the people realize that they don't want to get along without us. We can't expect this to happen in reverse. We can't just design houses that regular people can't afford for fees they can't afford and expect them to think this is obtainable or a viable option for them. We can't force regular people to fit into our current business models, we need to adjust our business models to fit the needs of the many, not just the few.

A small design problem is a design problem none the less. A thoughtful Architectural design doesn't require all the extras. We created that mentality. At one point in time, not too long ago, buildings were erected with much less and these magnificent structures still stand and are admired by all of us. The GA State Capitol Building was built with 4 sheets of paper and is far more detailed than many of the buildings being built today. FLW's houses were far more detailed as well and we've all used more sheets of paper to do much less. Toward the end of Wright's career he realized a need to provide affordable housing to the masses and his final Usonian period was geared exactly for that. He provided high end design that a middle class person could afford at a time when the military housing model was applied to the housing industry creating the God awful suburban model that has become the bane of our existence and rejected us from that sector of work. This was Wright's last stand in the 50s. He got it.

Read the Natural House by Wright and you'll get some insight into his realization about providing good design for all, while using Natural materials. It speaks of sustainability before we understood the need. During the 50s is not only when the suburb was created, but this is when all of the unnatural materials began to "revolutionize" our lives. Had he lived another 20 years, perhaps he could of helped convince us to do more about resisting the suburban model and blindly accepting new materials for the sake of using something new. He provided affordable modern designs with ancient materials while his competitors embraced the new, unnatural direction. At the last GreenPrints conference we listed all the pros and cons about the materials we use and at the end of the discussion it was the natural materials that by far had the least amount of cons. It's the cons that cost us the most in terms of money, our health, and our coexistence with the nature that has so graciously allowed us to exist in the first place despite our ungrateful, arrogant attitudes as a species. For each benefit we receive from unnatural materials, we tend to have at least two consequences. We found that the more we manipulate nature to create new, unnatural things, the more consequences we create that are often not realized until decades later. Society embraced the new housing model, the new materials, and we marginalized ourselves to a select group of clientele and now the whole industry is so broken, how do we fix it? We need to lead the charge and break the housing trend by adjusting our attitudes and business models to redirect America. We have to learn to provide design for the masses or we'll fade into the history books as Engineers, Homeowners, and Builders replace us. It's times like these that give us the opportunity to change things. If we don't take hold of the steering wheel, then someone else will!

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Eric Rawlings AIA
Owner
Rawlings Design, Inc.
Decatur GA
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Donald Duffy AIA
Don Duffy Architecture
Charlotte NC
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Hi Perry,

I could not agree more. This issue in one of the more basic ones the AIA should take up for Residential Architects. We compete in an area of work that has many non licensed competitors that do the work less than, even or better than architects. The choice not to do the work does not sit well with me. Nor is it much of business plan. I note, the AIA has not had much success in legislating the vaule of  Architects for single family design as they have done in the commercial world.

I see a big market in this kind of work and think we "architects" do better job of it. I wish I had the persuasive power to convince all of our prospective clients to spend 10s of 1000s of dollars more on all of our services when all they come to us for is a little help. I dont think serving a great burger is going to keep  someone from going out for great steak cooked by the same chef. Fenwick's here in Charlotte is such a place. We happen to have the skills to do both well too. We certainly try to sell the added value of planning and instruction. I would like to believe our good works at any level is bettering the name of all architects not lessening it. What better marketing for architects than the client saying "we love our architect".  We have set terms and minimum service levels prospective clients find unacceptable. I know not every one planning their  home can afford to plan that home using an architect's skills. That is a sad state of affairs to me. I wish every house no matter how simple could benefit for our skills. I do concede the cost of architectural service is not affordable to 99% of the population. I have tried to reach down just one more percent.
  
I quick example. A wealthy client of mine is trying to better a middle class neighborhood in eastern NC his father lives in. He sent a drafted plan for house in the 250k price point he thought was not adding to the neighborhood. He prefaced the review by letting me know this plan is their dream home and they poured their heart  into it. I did a quick review, raised some questions, one being, does the furniture fit in the dinging room? The answer came back, no is does not. What do we do? I  suggested they hire us us to do a more thorough review and they have. So a one hour consult turned into 15 paid hours of review. We will not get to redraw the house.  The designer will have that privilege as he works for $25 per hour. I just see this as good example of why architects have value. this client now says, We lover our architect, I wish we could afford him to do it all.  Maybe someday when they rise up out of the middle class they will see the value in 8% on top of the house cost for planning. I was unable to close the deal this time.

I do work hard to get the builders that will do justice to our planning. I see this as added value to the client and very important part of our work. I discuss this aspect of our work with perspective clients.
 
I can only go off my 16 year history in this market. We have good name with AIA after mine, a reputation of providing professional services at a good value and that we are responsible for the instructions we provide.

Perry, I have had days when I think the cost to be AIA and even an RA is not worth it to work in the single family market. The way I conduct myself and run my office of 5 with 4 architects  not based on either one of those titles. But I do think it means something to my clients. So I will remain loyal to both the honored profession of Residential Architect and the AIA.

I look forward to the AIA and CRAN doing more for the practice Residential Architecture. In the mean time, I am trying to do my part with our clients saying, We love our Architect, AIA, CORA.