Richard,
Thank you for bringing this subject up. I think we as architects NEED to talk about this. I am completely aware of the Consent Decree, and feel it is baggage that we as architects carry around with us. I believe there are legal ways to discuss fees in which the legal team at AIA should explore.
In a discussion with my father-in-law, a partner in a regional law firm, he simply stated that it is supply and demand. As an environmental lawyer who represents large companies his services are in high demand and pay accordingly. Likewise for medical doctors who have specialties such as radiologists. Their skills are in high demand while the general practitioner is slowly evaporating due to lack of need and the costs of education.
As for architecture, no one in America really understands the need for good design. Architecture in America is not a cultural representation as it is in Europe and Asia. The look, energy efficiency, and longevity of a building in America is not important, but the cost of putting up a building is. In contrast, people that visit Disney World wonder why all of our cities can't look like Main Street USA with its open spaces, outdoor dinning, and people watching perches. Unfortunately, I see that clients see architects as a necessary evil, one more fee to pay.
Our profession has not served itself well. We have released services such as Construction Management and Interior Design. We have treated our future leaders (interns) as worthless expendable slaves. It is time for us to reinvent our profession by taking this down time to reorganize, explore our weaknesses, plan our strategy, invest in our emerging professionals, and look to the future as a prosperous endeavor. If our profession doesn't move at this time with the AIA at the helm, our market share will diminish further, our fees will remain stagnant, the AIA will loose relevance, and we will loose even more future architects to other professions. Then in response to the lack of architects, states' rules and statutes will be modified to allow other professions to compete for our work and our profession will slowly die.
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Jonothan Bowling AIA
Project Architect
K. Norman Berry Associates
Louisville KY
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