The gist: noone gives a crap about architecture anymore. Long term policies (started by Thatcher) removed positions that used to value and promote good design. Given the circumstances, architects under-delivered on everyday projects. In some cases, architects seen as enemies who are only in it for money. Quote:"And we won't be getting Richard Rogers to design your school. We won't be getting any award-winning architects to design it, because no one in this room is here to make architects richer."
My summary does the article a great disservice though.
Good news is that this is only happening in the UK. The rest of us are safe. yay.
This conversation comes up a lot..... All this apocolypic "death of architecture" stuff is nonsense. when there is a need for a building, it needs to be designed by an architect. No one else really has that capability.
The UK of all places should be very particular about its architecture.
Unfortunately there really is a death of the Architect occurring, but architecture will live on. The move to program managers, property managers providing turnkey solutions and Design Build arrangements are have become the norm in the Chicago Commercial market. More often your working for Jones Lang LaSalle than the client directly, because they mange the building or provide program management for the client. I suspect to build an entire new office building from scratch one will still hire an architect, but there will be so few of them it would hard to call it a profession still.
good point 2step. combine that with your observation in another thread that design is something you outsource at a loss, architecture might as well be dying.
med. perhaps the issue is "death of a design architect". If clients are increasingly unwilling to pay for the design part of our services, and if the actual built environment we are producing is as crappy as some say it is, then what's the point of the leftover professionals who call themselves architects?
Who designed that shopping mall? Who cares? We will be selected for projects the way one goes about selecting an accountant, but minus the client appreciation of saving them money.
Again, the article states that things are much better in other European countries when it comes to appreciation for design.
UK's architecture profession is not too dissimular to the US system...
I think it comes from the rise of national and multinational corporations and chain retail; If your global, you hire a global property manager, who finds and leases spaces, manages construction and design of build outs and demands strict design standards. Its a big gets bigger phenomenon. If you can get in with a global or national property manager I suppose its good for you but I have heard stories of contractors and designers who are in the stable of such companies essentially being used for free bids, price checking and free consultations. They want you to think you may get the next job if you offer free services on their current jobs. Happens all the time to bidding contractors. Architects are guilty of doing this too, which is why contractors have such low opinions of hard line, low bid architects. This also might be symptomatic of lawyers and MBAs taking over all facets of the business world. Regardless, I hope we move back to a creative and collaborative relationship with business instead of a service provider relationship model, I dont want to service my clients, I want to build for them.
>> Quote:"And we won't be getting Richard Rogers to design your school. We won't be getting any award-winning architects to design it, because no one in this room is here to make architects richer."
It is a bit mischievious to attribute this quote to the article's author. On the contrary the article seems to be quite sympathetic to architects. The quote is from the new(ish) pro-market right-wing Tory government minister Michael Gove, who has a vested interest in trying to scapegoat anyone but himself!!
Unlike many other developed countries the UK does not legally require architects to be part of the design process, there's no requirement for drawings to be signed off by a registered architect, for example. It's shocking to see the statistic that requests for architect services have droped 40% since the current recession began in 2007/8!
Apr 7, 11 3:09 am ·
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Death of Architecture (again)
This time around The Independent covers the topic.
The gist: noone gives a crap about architecture anymore. Long term policies (started by Thatcher) removed positions that used to value and promote good design. Given the circumstances, architects under-delivered on everyday projects. In some cases, architects seen as enemies who are only in it for money. Quote:"And we won't be getting Richard Rogers to design your school. We won't be getting any award-winning architects to design it, because no one in this room is here to make architects richer."
My summary does the article a great disservice though.
Good news is that this is only happening in the UK. The rest of us are safe. yay.
This conversation comes up a lot..... All this apocolypic "death of architecture" stuff is nonsense. when there is a need for a building, it needs to be designed by an architect. No one else really has that capability.
The UK of all places should be very particular about its architecture.
Unfortunately there really is a death of the Architect occurring, but architecture will live on. The move to program managers, property managers providing turnkey solutions and Design Build arrangements are have become the norm in the Chicago Commercial market. More often your working for Jones Lang LaSalle than the client directly, because they mange the building or provide program management for the client. I suspect to build an entire new office building from scratch one will still hire an architect, but there will be so few of them it would hard to call it a profession still.
good point 2step. combine that with your observation in another thread that design is something you outsource at a loss, architecture might as well be dying.
med. perhaps the issue is "death of a design architect". If clients are increasingly unwilling to pay for the design part of our services, and if the actual built environment we are producing is as crappy as some say it is, then what's the point of the leftover professionals who call themselves architects?
Who designed that shopping mall? Who cares? We will be selected for projects the way one goes about selecting an accountant, but minus the client appreciation of saving them money.
Again, the article states that things are much better in other European countries when it comes to appreciation for design.
UK's architecture profession is not too dissimular to the US system...
I think it comes from the rise of national and multinational corporations and chain retail; If your global, you hire a global property manager, who finds and leases spaces, manages construction and design of build outs and demands strict design standards. Its a big gets bigger phenomenon. If you can get in with a global or national property manager I suppose its good for you but I have heard stories of contractors and designers who are in the stable of such companies essentially being used for free bids, price checking and free consultations. They want you to think you may get the next job if you offer free services on their current jobs. Happens all the time to bidding contractors. Architects are guilty of doing this too, which is why contractors have such low opinions of hard line, low bid architects. This also might be symptomatic of lawyers and MBAs taking over all facets of the business world. Regardless, I hope we move back to a creative and collaborative relationship with business instead of a service provider relationship model, I dont want to service my clients, I want to build for them.
>> Quote:"And we won't be getting Richard Rogers to design your school. We won't be getting any award-winning architects to design it, because no one in this room is here to make architects richer."
It is a bit mischievious to attribute this quote to the article's author. On the contrary the article seems to be quite sympathetic to architects. The quote is from the new(ish) pro-market right-wing Tory government minister Michael Gove, who has a vested interest in trying to scapegoat anyone but himself!!
Unlike many other developed countries the UK does not legally require architects to be part of the design process, there's no requirement for drawings to be signed off by a registered architect, for example. It's shocking to see the statistic that requests for architect services have droped 40% since the current recession began in 2007/8!
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