I have taught in one of our schools of architecture and was grateful for the teaching position when I was starting in the field but I question the fate of the reported 50,000 students currently in architecture programs. Where will they work?
The questions raised in this forum are important. See the discussion on physician salaries in this blog:
http://wallstreetpit.com/5769-the-medical-cartel-why-are-md-salaries-so-high Note that the AMA answered the forum. They are not sleeping on this.
The AIA consent decree does not prevent the AIA from working to influence legislation or other government actions that would influence the requirement for architectural services or assistance or protection for the profession. Architecture's tradition as a rich man's pursuit causes its practitioners to eschew self promotion and self protection yet the medical profession is self protecting through legislation. Imagine a law that would assist an architectural student with the cost of their education!
Other countries have great doctors and lively vital medical professions with far less stringent and restrictive educational requirements than the US. There is no justification for the restrictive entrance requirements or cost of education of doctors in the US and worse it does little to protect the population from medical malpractice.
My nephew is studying medicine in Bogota Colombia and began rounds in hsi second year of study. My son who is pre-med can study anything for four years before even beginning to think about medicine. talented young students with an interest in medicine drift away to other fields in the overly long run up to a profession that erects absurd barriers to entry.
Do we want the AIA to do this for us? Is it worth the public scorn that many feel for the medical profession? I think not. We tolerate them because we feel we might die without them...
We could use a framework for revolution in fees and practice in this profession but it should not be a price fixing scheme or an artificial numerical restriction on entry. The reason for the consent decree was that the AIA published an actual price list to be observed by AIA members. Never mind that the insurance compaies do the very same thing de facto with fee for service regulation. We would not want that for architects either.
What the AIA could and should do is to educate people about what services should (dare I say must) be included in architectural services to be a competent and professional service. Those who feel forced to offer cheap services often do so by cutting corners and doing less. Cutting corners is incompetent and negligent by definition. The AIA might educate the public on what an architect should be including would discourage those who reduce services inappropriately to fit a low fee. That would depend of course on getting the AIA members to agree on what should compose a service, not an easy task.
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Ethan Anthony AIA
President
Cram and Ferguson Architects
Concord MA
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-28-2011 10:22
From: Jay Anderson
Subject: Fee Structure
Richard,
I feel exactly the same way. It feels like architectural services have become nothing more than a commodity which can be purchased at the lowest price. With increasing pressure from clients to get the job done faster, more efficiently and within budget it often feels like we're trying to just break even rather than make an actual profit. It also doesn't help that there are many developers out there who lobby for decreased architectural service requirements. I think in order for the fee structure to change it will take a unilateral movement across the board. As architecture professionals, we need to cohesively stand together and demand a fee becoming of our talents, skill set and commitment.
I was talking with some friends this weekend and their perception of an architect and their salaries is only what they know of from movies or stereotypes. They had no idea how the fee structure actually worked. They assumed if a building cost 30M to build that the architect/designer received the lions share of the fee. I got a good laugh out of that. The point being is that you hit the nail on the head when you talked about educating the client. As professionals I believe we need to educate the client in regards to the fee structure. I know there will always be budgets and clients who don't have a lot of money, but the fact is that people don't come to an architect unless they have money to spend.
We are losing more and more talented people to other industries because of the lack of compensation. If we are to survive, we are going to have to unite and move forward as a whole.
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Jay Anderson Assoc. AIA
Carlson West Povondra Architects
Omaha NE
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