I am relatively young (30s) and am wondering how old you can be in architecture and still continue working. I was wondering if there are any members on this forum in their 70s or 80s who are still working as architects and might be able to provide some perspective on what it is like.
i dont know if those people really use the internet. but there's plenty of old architects still working hard. gehry, gwathmey, eisenman, stern, graves (sort of).
a forgone conclusion....Composers and Architects live longer because they remain engaged in their work later than many careers....kind of romantic actually
While still distant from the ages mentioned above, I sense that I may be among the more ancient participants of this forum. My own exposure to the profession suggests that there are three primary scenarios as architects age:
a) many retire completely from their firms between 65-70, and then start taking on small commissions of a sort they really can enjoy and can produce from their homes, without staff. this scenario generally assumes reasonable economic preparation for retirement.
b) some stay with their firms as emeritus principals (typically as employees, not owners) undertaking projects they are well suited to perform and enjoy. This scenario typically requires the forebearance of the new generation of owners.
c) for purely economic and/or ego reasons, some make no changes at all, carrying on as though age makes no difference whatsoever. this scenario often causes great uncertainty among younger members of the firm, many of who may jump ship unless the future is made very clear.
So much depends on economic circumstances, health and continued interest and capability. I don't think I know a single architect who stopped practicing completely at age 65 - more typically we just move into a new mode of practice.
There's nothing sadder than an old architect who failed to plan, who failed to save, who has lost touch with contemporary practice, and who can't retire for economic or emotional reasons.
my old boss is doing the best stuff of his career at close to 80. it's taken him that long to be so perfectly placed - politically, financially, and managerially. you should probably readjust your sense of reality, cityboy9, or you'll be disappointed.
My former boss got a PhD and became a physicist at 27. He did that for a few years and decided it was too theoretical and not hands-on enough for him. He then enrolled in the 3.5 year MArch at GSD in his 30s, and never looked back. He's now 72, teaches studio three afternoons a week, and probably bills 40-50 hours at the office as well.
He looks pretty happy to me. I should be so lucky...
dear god, why on earth pass up retirement? architects work too hard. it's such a silly point of pride beaten into you from the moment you start architecture school.
i'm with hotel collage - there's so much more to life.
i'll expand - i think there's a point when you realize you're not frank lloyd wright, and there are so many books to read, places to see, families to visit, gardens to plant, etc. that drawing one more plan (or more likely schmoozing one more client) doesn't really seem worth it anymore. i'm not there yet, but i think i'll know it when it comes.
jafidler, i think most architects working into their 70s/80s have realized that it's not about stardom at all but about doing the work. i get enough of a charge out of the work i do that i could see maintaining it well into retirement. i'm certain that reading books, etc will never fill the void and seeing new things would only challenge me to want to MAKE new things. i'm in this for life, and not because of dreams of flw.
one of the principals in my firm (60-something; the other is 43) LIVES for exactly what you call 'schmoozing the client', though for him it truly is about building relationships. his joy is in the making of connections, getting the work onto our desks, and then keeping up with the projects to make sure that people stay happy with what they've built.
and, cityboy9, i'm still bumfuzzled by the drool comment. do you know any 70 year olds. they're as likely to be playing tennis and surfing as they are to be drooling.
i understand, steven. maybe my attitude comes with getting into architecture later in life after i'd already finished a degree in english and experienced a life outside of architecture. i think there's an unfortunate all or nothing mentality towards architecture, and i don't think it has to be. i love architecture, but it is still a profession for me and is not my life. i hope to attain a bit more balance, but realize my approach is not for everybody.
While it might be that folks working in their later years are driven by a love of the field, as others have mentioned there are than a few that were put there because of necessity (poor retirement planning, unexpected healthcare expenses for a spouse, etc.). Work is something you should only do if you want to - I fully support anyone who wants to flake out and open a hostel in Bhutan.
[Tangential unabomber-style rant: It drives me nuts to hear my coworkers claim that corn syrup and pesticides are making society unhealthy when they sit at their desks yammering on the phone and pumping CAD for 11 hours a day. May I suggest that working in offices every daylight hour may affect ones health at least as significantly as a food additive?]
I love architecture, but judged solely by my admittedly scant 7 years of experience, I surely do not love the practice of architecture and can't imagine doing it until the day I die. Practice (even in a high end design firm... is that the problem?) is really a different thing entirely than the parts of the discipline that I love - my hope is that maybe these two things become less divergent as time goes on. I can't say that the older folks that I've worked with here in LA make me very optimistic.
Nov 27, 07 8:32 am ·
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working into your 70s and 80s
I am relatively young (30s) and am wondering how old you can be in architecture and still continue working. I was wondering if there are any members on this forum in their 70s or 80s who are still working as architects and might be able to provide some perspective on what it is like.
i dont know if those people really use the internet. but there's plenty of old architects still working hard. gehry, gwathmey, eisenman, stern, graves (sort of).
Oscar Neimeyer. 99.
Turns a century old in December. Still kickin' it and designing.
Unfortunately, I don't think he is on this forum.
a forgone conclusion....Composers and Architects live longer because they remain engaged in their work later than many careers....kind of romantic actually
work 'til ya die
While still distant from the ages mentioned above, I sense that I may be among the more ancient participants of this forum. My own exposure to the profession suggests that there are three primary scenarios as architects age:
a) many retire completely from their firms between 65-70, and then start taking on small commissions of a sort they really can enjoy and can produce from their homes, without staff. this scenario generally assumes reasonable economic preparation for retirement.
b) some stay with their firms as emeritus principals (typically as employees, not owners) undertaking projects they are well suited to perform and enjoy. This scenario typically requires the forebearance of the new generation of owners.
c) for purely economic and/or ego reasons, some make no changes at all, carrying on as though age makes no difference whatsoever. this scenario often causes great uncertainty among younger members of the firm, many of who may jump ship unless the future is made very clear.
So much depends on economic circumstances, health and continued interest and capability. I don't think I know a single architect who stopped practicing completely at age 65 - more typically we just move into a new mode of practice.
There's nothing sadder than an old architect who failed to plan, who failed to save, who has lost touch with contemporary practice, and who can't retire for economic or emotional reasons.
I stopped working in my 30s.
a couple of senior architects...
Jørn Utzon (born April 9, 1918) = 89
Sverre Fehn (born August 14, 1924) = 83
i gotta stop smoking...
into your 70's and 80's? please kill me. will your interns wipe the drool off your chin for you?
my old boss is doing the best stuff of his career at close to 80. it's taken him that long to be so perfectly placed - politically, financially, and managerially. you should probably readjust your sense of reality, cityboy9, or you'll be disappointed.
My dad's most important life advice to me was to find work I loved so going to work every day was going to do my hobby.
With that attitude, why would I want to quit?
Hear, hear, Liberty Bell!
"Love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life."
--Henry Ford (rumor has it)
My former boss got a PhD and became a physicist at 27. He did that for a few years and decided it was too theoretical and not hands-on enough for him. He then enrolled in the 3.5 year MArch at GSD in his 30s, and never looked back. He's now 72, teaches studio three afternoons a week, and probably bills 40-50 hours at the office as well.
He looks pretty happy to me. I should be so lucky...
dear god, why on earth pass up retirement? architects work too hard. it's such a silly point of pride beaten into you from the moment you start architecture school.
i'm with hotel collage - there's so much more to life.
exactly.
i'll expand - i think there's a point when you realize you're not frank lloyd wright, and there are so many books to read, places to see, families to visit, gardens to plant, etc. that drawing one more plan (or more likely schmoozing one more client) doesn't really seem worth it anymore. i'm not there yet, but i think i'll know it when it comes.
(i hope i don't have multiple!)
with social security and medicare in the state that it's in, count on working 'till you're 80
jafidler, i think most architects working into their 70s/80s have realized that it's not about stardom at all but about doing the work. i get enough of a charge out of the work i do that i could see maintaining it well into retirement. i'm certain that reading books, etc will never fill the void and seeing new things would only challenge me to want to MAKE new things. i'm in this for life, and not because of dreams of flw.
one of the principals in my firm (60-something; the other is 43) LIVES for exactly what you call 'schmoozing the client', though for him it truly is about building relationships. his joy is in the making of connections, getting the work onto our desks, and then keeping up with the projects to make sure that people stay happy with what they've built.
and, cityboy9, i'm still bumfuzzled by the drool comment. do you know any 70 year olds. they're as likely to be playing tennis and surfing as they are to be drooling.
i understand, steven. maybe my attitude comes with getting into architecture later in life after i'd already finished a degree in english and experienced a life outside of architecture. i think there's an unfortunate all or nothing mentality towards architecture, and i don't think it has to be. i love architecture, but it is still a profession for me and is not my life. i hope to attain a bit more balance, but realize my approach is not for everybody.
While it might be that folks working in their later years are driven by a love of the field, as others have mentioned there are than a few that were put there because of necessity (poor retirement planning, unexpected healthcare expenses for a spouse, etc.). Work is something you should only do if you want to - I fully support anyone who wants to flake out and open a hostel in Bhutan.
[Tangential unabomber-style rant: It drives me nuts to hear my coworkers claim that corn syrup and pesticides are making society unhealthy when they sit at their desks yammering on the phone and pumping CAD for 11 hours a day. May I suggest that working in offices every daylight hour may affect ones health at least as significantly as a food additive?]
I love architecture, but judged solely by my admittedly scant 7 years of experience, I surely do not love the practice of architecture and can't imagine doing it until the day I die. Practice (even in a high end design firm... is that the problem?) is really a different thing entirely than the parts of the discipline that I love - my hope is that maybe these two things become less divergent as time goes on. I can't say that the older folks that I've worked with here in LA make me very optimistic.
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