well you still have clients, planners and other sections of society to answer to. so, unless you own everything then your discussion hasn't got a foundation to build upon.

...yeah, that's the most elitist bs i've ever heard. really, the post should read:

"While I'm hoping & dreaming about being recognized as a GAWD, the Owner is living the life paid for, in part, by my Arch-Ego.

Own something & I get to design it & build it the way I want. That's just how it is."

Speak for yourself and grow up.

This could be an awesome late night infomercial aimed at out of work architects.

I guess architecture can really make people defensive.

hasn't the ownership society taken a bit of a hit as of late?

owners are not getting the financing they need from banks to fund projects since banks are becoming less inclined to loan due to the current BS. the BS looks like it'll last for a while. the BS is here to stay.

i agree to a certain extent that an owner has "the best job." ... i argue, that a better job in architecture is to be a design/builder.

I'd take Design/Builder over flat out 'Architect'. Ideally, you'd be Design/Build/Owner. Overall, though. I still believe that the Owner has the best job, but the Owner has to know what he's doing in order to enjoy the spoils.

This thread could have been the jumping off point for a discussion about architect as owner-developer but I'm not clear if that was the intention.

I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that owning and developing one's own projects is one of the only paths to making a decent amount of money in this profession.

So, therein lies the challenge. How do we get to the of being Owner/Architect? For everyone, the answer will vary, I'm sure.

One way that appeals to me is the Earthship guys out in New Mexico. They didn't appear to have started w/ much money - just ideas & a bunch of used tires.

Now if you're already wealthy & wanna become an Arch/Owner, GAWD-bless you, but I ain't really interested in that as an answer. It's not the point of this Q/A.

Sorry, should read:
"How do we get to the POINT of being..."

I don't think money is the main thing that keeps so many architects from developing their own projects. Even in this economy you can find money if you look hard enough for it.

I think it has more to do with fear - fear of becoming the sleazy developer, fear that managing properties will keep us from our practice, fear that developing is not a "pure" form of architectural practice, fear of being our own client, etc.

Doing design for architects/firms that lack passion is enough to sned me over to 'the dark side'. I think it's fear of something else that keeps architects under someone else's thumb.