I feel your pain. I have been looking for eight months now and those titles are basically all I come across. Remember in like the Matrix part 2 when the old man comes out as "the architect"

Hahaha, the ultimate of all the software jobs.

I guess in a way they are building virtual worlds of data

I recently saw a party planner described as "the architect behind the event". Really? Our title has stooped as low as party planning. Maybe it's time we adhere a creative adjective before ''architect' so we can differentiate ourselves.

Spatial Architect?
Design Architect?
ARCHITECT architect?

funny thing is I actually did a search on google for "design architect" and I actually got more hits

In the UK we dont have this problem.

"Under Section 20 of the Architects Act 1997, the title ‘architect’ is protected. It can only be used in business or practice by someone who has had the education, training and experience needed to become an architect, and who is registered with us. Firms or partnerships can use ‘architect’ in their business name, as long as a registered architect is in direct control. When someone uses the title ‘architect’, it means that people can check with us that they are dealing with a trained and qualified professional. The Act also protects the public from dishonest individuals who deliberately mislead people by calling themselves something they’re not"

Ohh and Hi! Im new here.

MY BAD lol Continues to read....

"The name ‘architect’ is sometimes used in a way that isn’t connected to building and design. For example, ‘software architect’ or ‘systems architect’ are examples from the computer and IT industry. We take the commonsense view, and accept that no one could be misled into thinking this had something to do with the design and construction of buildings, and we wouldn’t take any action in these cases."

yeah we fuckin' americans need to get a clue and enact something like that

It's not so much a confusion issue. I think most people can figure out that a software architect probably isn't the person to go to for a home remodel. It's more of a problem for job seekers because aside from Archinect you end up swimming through a sea of non-industry related job posts. This would also include craigslist that lumps Engineering with Architecture.

even in craigslist they tell them not to post IT type jobs under the architecture tab and yet I see it all the time

I am thinking though that every time I send a resume through craigslist that it goes to that beautiful resume home in the sky

Damn, another reason for me to not shop walmart.

I just sent a complaint to Walmart corporate.

I'll probably get the same response I got when I sent a complaint to Kettle Chips about their Chief Flavor Architect: a dictionary definition and the sentence "It's an appropriate use of the term." Love your chips, guys, but you were wrong.

searching under jobs "Architect" on linkedin, one goes through 10 pages worth of IT, programming and marketing jobs without finding a single position for "architect" as we use the word. I gave up after 10 pages.

I wonder how many studio classes it took Carolyn to come up with the Fully Loaded Baked Potato concept?

It does seem a little strange that the only enforcement of the 'Architect' title the AIA practices is totally internal to the profession and is strictly to differentiate between those with a license and those without.

"Although many AIA members have inquired about the cast of new uses for the term architect, and expressed their displeasure of it, there is no official AIA policy for the usage outside the construction industry. The term architect is a generic one and the AIA does not own the rights to it.

In the profession of architecture, though, you cannot call yourself an architect or provide architecture services unless you are licensed. All states, the District of Columbia, and four U.S. territories (Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) require individuals to be licensed (registered) before they may call themselves architects or contract to provide architecture services."

This is fascinating considering that I recently lost the "architectural" part of my title. I am now a "designer" until I get licensed.

For some reason, I keep thinking "designer" shoes and hand bags when I hear "designer." I'm hoping that isn't what everyone else is thinking when they see my business cards.

dotdotdash, that's because enforcement is the responsibility of each state's licensing board. The AIA will send information about misuse along to the board, but it's the board's authority, and the AIA has no authority to punish anyone except its own members - who must be registered (or associate members).

oh yeah i can't STAND THIS!! it makes the job search impossible. i haven't even searched for the word architect or architecture in awhile because i know it will give me a million IT jobs.
not that there are any architecture jobs anyway.....
(about to take an online test to be a teller at wells fargo..)
good thing I pulled all those all nighters and was so ambitious about being an architect.
i'm going to get a degree in education i think if this doesn't stop being so ridiculous soon. i'm 23 and can't really start a career in this economy.
that or move to someplace really really really cheap.. like cambodia.

Well, OK, this isn't that fascinating because this has been an ongoing issue for a while. And I'm not annoyed about the fact that I can't call myself an architectural designer yet, its that I can't call myself an architect BUT there is a chief flavor architect and "architectural" columns that are polyurethane or fiberglass made from molds (and spreads the FALSE idea that "architectural" really means fake pretty crap superficially attached to real things).

So under what authority did the UK make such a law? I can't believe the US can't do this considering there is a precedent.

And keopi, I'm sure this isn't the norm, but I had a horrible time in Cambodia. I pretty much got conned (is that a word?) pretty much everywhere I went. Even the uniformed officials on the border conned me. Ugh, and the taxis... Maybe I'm to be blamed for my gullibleness and propensity towards the lack of a backbone. But I would never visit Cambodia again unless I can parachute into Angkor Wat and can be picked up via Skyhook (you know that cool thing in Batman).

Sorry for my rants.

Yeah I kinda figured that was how the AIA dealt with it, which is to say not at all.

Still I can't help but think how wrong it is that 7 years of schooling and the only way I can be an "Architect" is to get a job at Walmart/Kettle Chips.

Slart: "architectural" columns that are polyurethane or fiberglass made from molds"

Do you ever find it humorous that AIA's logo has an old style column in it?

No I don't. Classical orders were that way for a reason and referencing a classical order for a logo is fine to me. It bothers me that they call these fake non-structural superfluous column wraps "architectural columns." Often you will hear engineers and manufacturers refer to "architectural columns" as those superfical elements with no structural integrity. My education has been that "architectural columns" are structural columns that have protective and finish qualities that allow them to be exposed.

In a sense, everyone in the construction field is using the "architectural" term to describe things that make things... pretty. This reflects the rest of the industries' perception of architects and what we do. And architects are OK with that it seems.

In all the other industries, even in the automobile industry, architecture refers to the design of a systematic whole. Which to me is more of a reflection of architecture as architects see it.

So basically, people in other industries can throw the word around but they have the right attitude and perception of it, whereas people in the construction industry seem to have a superflous understanding and use of the term but we are restricting its use just for people that do architectural work. Its one of those ironies that aren't humorous.

typed architect into monsters job search. 3214 results. of which 90 relate to the building industry, and "real" architects. this issue has pissed me off ever since I started school and was proud about the fact I would eventually be called an architect. the term and title seems to be thrown around to willy nilly. sucks really.

i guess i really don't care if people want to call themselves cheese doodle taste architect it doesn't really matter to me.
i just want to be able to do a reasonable search for a job :)

Classical orders were that way for a reason?

And what reason might that be?

wow, really fku2? You want me to explain the classical order, the context of those times, or at least our understanding of those times, and the concept that you can quantify or formulate beauty and what is "right"? And how the availability of skilled labor vs cost of material, along with the availability of power/authority for construction made it possible for the espression of "classical" ideas and the renaissance of it? And how there has always been throughout architectural and art history a back and forth between that concept of being able to quantify and formulate beauty, and the antithesis of it being the freedom of expression and creativity being a form of beauty and what is "right"? And that the symbol of a "classical order" has an air of legitimacy (rightfully or not), that one might one to reference?

And of course, that this is not even my main point or the topic of this thread?

See, there is nothing with the classical order. Because, yes, they were they were that way for a reason. Using it improperly for the wrong purpose, with improper tools and materials, and calling it "architectural" is wrong. Because in this sense, they're using "architectural" as being synonymous as "decorative and wrongfully reflecting a certain time and context that has nothing to do with this instance of use" is frankly insulting.

And I'll reiterate my main point being that other industries such as automobile and IT industry actually correctly use "architect" and "architecture" terms - as the design(er) of a systematic whole. And in the US there is no control over that terminology in other industries.

Yet people in the construction industry constantly use "architectural" to mean "decorative..." and architects mainly doing the work of decorating "real" work such as the kind of work engineers do. Which is an incorrect perception of the work of architects, although yes aesthetics is a part of the package (albeit a much more meaningful way hopefully). And somehow in the US there is a restriction of use the term and its derivatives, but only within our own industry. Which is frightfully and unhumorously ironic.

Semantics. Much bigger fish to fry...most job searches I have seen also seperate jobs by industry so I would wonder why one would be looking for architecture work in the computer science field...Craiglist and others list Architecture separate from software. I have never understood this issue in the field...reeks of insecurity.

"I just sent a complaint to Walmart corporate. "

Why? You care what Walmart names things? That is what we care coming to as a profession? Worrying about a single word? Jesh, maybe the end is near.

Lastly I know many Architects who say they can also do web design or graphic design, with absolutely no background in those fields. No knowledge of type or code structure or anything...but hey, they made a poster and a website so obviously they are just as skilled as an actual graphic or web designer.

I say get over the names and rely on your skillset in whatever field that may be. Thinking names or titles will save you is naive at best.

chupa, it's obnoxious when architects call themselves "web designer" or whatever, agreed. I'm crappy at graphic design, happy to admit it, and I don't do it - I work with actual graphic designers.

But it's not a grey area: architect is a legally protected title - not protected by architects, but protected by each state. Designer is not a legally protected term. The word "architect" is written into statutes - you either are one or you aren't. The grey area is whether it's legal to use the term depending on the services you offer.

I complain about it to Walmart and Kettle Chips partly or fun, partly as educational outreach, though I admit, I was kind of hoping Kettle Chips would send me a coupon. ;-)

sue them all NCARB! and then lower our fees with your winnings....

If they were trying to make buildings I might buy your argument Lb...but my wife, a doctor, seems to be fine with "rug doctor" "doctor scholls" and other uses and finds that they do not demean on her license. :)

Its when dr.dre starts performs open heart surgery that we should be really worried.

I see your point, chupa, but there's also a fine difference. Everyone knows what a doctor does, what part of their life a doctor addresses, therefore The Rug Doctor is impossible to confuse with a health professional. Most people honestly have no idea what an architect does.

Which I suspect is why we don't see many businesses calling themselves The Whatever Architect (the previous page's Hair Architects notwithstanding). IT people have glommed onto the word because of The (freaking) Matrix, and people have so little understanding of what we do that we can't even really defend our use of it without sounding like crybabies. Still, I'll be that crybaby on occasion, for kicks - I'm polite about it.

Also, on the job search issue, it's just a huge pain in the ass.

"it's just a huge pain in the as"


That we can agree on and is what I assume most people are frustrated with.

I'm registered in Arizona but don't live there but always figured I would head back there someday so I have kept the registration active there as it doesn't cost that much and well The Board which oversees all Registrations sends out a news letter from time to time identifying all the people who have become registered, those who have let their registration laps and all the people who have failed to act in a professional manner or attempted to pass them self off as Home Inspectors, Architects, Engineers and what they have been fined. I pay almost double that amount in my New England State and they don't send out a thing. I always wondered where does the money go? I'm sure the not out there chasing down "Financial Architects", which this State seems to be the king of....

oh just rambling.