i know this was a little facetious, but it draws attention to a fundamental underestimation of what we do.

your statement assumes that 'everyone' has the ability to conceive what they want/need in the first place. sometimes our skill in asking the right questions, defining the program, and helping the user understand the value of making something more useful/efficient/beautiful than what they originally imagined, is as important as our skill in bringing it to fruition.

in other words, how broad is your definition of design?

we are educated to think differently. we are therefore able to bring a point-of-view to a problem which is simultaneously more broad and more detailed than most people can get their heads around.

give us a break!?

in the future, due to advances in technology and hgtv, everyone will be a designer. therefore, "designers" will be obsolete. it is the ultimate democratization.

Yes HGTV does come into play here.
Beautiful explanation Steven. I will modify it memorize it and dish it out later.
Can almost everyone/anyone be a designer? What if it was the norm? There would be one in each family designated to produce the stuff. Like cooking dinner and getting dressed. Some won't be that good at it and hence mediocracy follows technology.

"in the future, due to advances in technology and hgtv, everyone will be a designer. therefore, "designers" will be obsolete."

that what they said about the advent of the computer and graphic design. it has not proven true though.

in the future everyone will have a personal alarm installed on their ass. this will replace the 'neighbohood watch' to 'ass gazing'..

I am with e. I've seen what happens when someone buys a laser cutter and Corel Draw, but can't figure out how to use it. I've never used one, and I could tell him what he was doing wrong without sitting down at the computer.

The technology for everyman to make a Hollywood animated film, or even regular film, is available for $300 (Hash Animation, or Softimage for $500). A $500 computer is a billion times better than what was used in many a HWood film 6 years ago.

So here's my critiria why this will never happen:

1. People are lazy. If they have to think, forget it. Read instructions, tutorials, etc., forget it.
2. 99% of the people out there have no creative talent, or will never have someone show them how to exploit it (it's a very rare thing, the creative person with no training - mind you, people 'claim' they are creative). This includes the vast majority of architects. Making a McMansion or a 'new' victorian is not creative, imho, it's just problem solving - i.e. business.

That's it. I think, if anything, there will be a large separation between designer Gods and the lesser creatives. Not necessarily always due to real talent, but nonetheless, it's a good thing when a great designer makes a lot of money and recieves recognition.

In the future everyone will be a designer and their work will become worthless, skilled laborer's will become millionaires as they are the only people not carrying six figures worth of debt from a college education.

Bitter much?

Perhaps.....

in the future everyone will be a designer. it was never suggested that everyone will be a good designer. the more things change the more they stay the same.

Carpal tunnel syndrome

I agree with trace, at least in america a far greater percentage of the population would rather be a passive consumer of versus an active creator of the products they use. On the idea of mediocrity thru technology and populitst design, the number of designs that are created can never detract from, or obscure truly elegant solutions that come from knowledge and talent. Desktop publishing vs graphic design.

So what can we do about it now?

8 toes

vada retro, good point

for everyone talking about the value of designers, i think we should take a step back and see who really needs us...it is a marginal amount of society. And trace comparing a house on melrose to a hollywood movie is a bit strange, and mainly because peope think of movie-making as a much more complex art than architecture, unless we are talking about specialized architectural projects.

I just read somewhere that rapid prototyping equipment will also replace a large chunk of shops for products and the like. It is the future - it is going to happen

to e
'that what they said about the advent of the computer and graphic design. it has not proven true though.'
Yes, good graphic designers cannot be replaced by shitty software like 'labelmaker pro' etc to cite an example, but go to the local electronics repair store down the road and see what he uses to make his labels or banners. I think equated to architecture, it is exactly that segment we are talking about, sadly which is quite large.

a jetpack. that's all i ask. a jetpack.

has anyone seen Waterworld lately?

for all the talk of "democracy" and democratic ideals on this website, an extreme contempt for regular people certainly exists. a case of circling the wagons? in the future there will be no wagons. only jetpacks

forget about jetpacks. I want freakin' teleportation. That'll be enough for me to prove that the human race can achieve something worth talkin'bout.

cancer, who knows what all the preservatives, hormones, antibiotics, etc. added to our food is doing to us.

doctor, i don't dispute the fact that people have greater ability to do "design" with the advent of technology. what i dispute is the point that designers will be made obsolete by technology.

detachable penis

Hi

"In the future ------"

Wrong null nil ; "_Now_ everyone is a designer"
But you need the skills the feel nerve and will, esp. you need the drive and a reson to belive the Romans realy earned this heaven. Look into 3D-Honeycomb only lazyness hold the to be designers in old fasion Lego thinking and boring block counting.
Forget about thoughts like making the 20 year old rapid-prototyping idear work at sea or even land ; it is old technike already even 3D-H is a compleatly different and much more relevant method, you do all the wrong things it maby work in space adding one atom by a nanno robot, but realy why ask a glorious painting when you need structure.

THE RETURN OF PER!!!!

Per- you should really comment in the anti-CNC fetish topic. Its right up your alley.

In the future, intelligent machines will do all the work so we’ll have endless free time to spend begging for change, sitting in prison or writing endless polemics about how welfare corrupts people’s values.

Jet packs will replace cars and then teleportation will replace jet packs and we’ll all have to act really excited and run out an buy a teleportation machine (on credit of course, since we all will have just been downsized) even though we’ll all secretly know that jet packs were way cooler.

Architects will save the world in the end, though, when we reveal that our plan all along wasn’t to solve problems and make things easier but, in fact, to problimatize everything and turn the simplest details of life into little nightmares of complexity.

The New Deal will be replace with the Big Hairy Deal (because we’ll make a big hairy deal out of everything) and everyone will have plenty of work again doing everything in the least efficient way possible and they’ll love us for bring back jet packs.

Either that or there will be revolution.

Like the boss said, “Architecture or Revolution”

inefficiency is good for the economy. it creates jobs.

I like that Strawbeary said "mediocracy follows technology" instead of mediocrity. I also think she may be right.

it slices it dices its the popiel futuromatic