Trey Trahan, principal of Trahan Architects, worries that architects who leave the industry for a period of time might struggle to keep up with technological advances in their field. — businessreport.com
Business Report.com discusses the ongoing effects of the economic crisis for architects and others involved in the construction industries.
"There's a huge gap right now between older and younger architects," he says. "That middle group—the one that would take over the leadership of firms—just isn't there. There aren't as many of them around."
6 Comments
What technological advances? Construction industry has kind of idled in the last few years. Design firms have jumped on BIM solutions, sure, but to be fair, when did upper management know how to use these tools well? Gehry still doesn't know how to turn on a computer.
Otherwise I would agree that there wil be a shortage of architects of certain age who have a good grasp of construction industry fundamentals. Solution to this will be to throw the inexperienced into sink or swim situations. The same way it's always been done.
I'm wondering that maybe this gap (the lost generation of the 90s) is part of the reason why over the past 10 years it has been hard for many of my peers to find adequate mentoring. people who started in the late 90s, early 2000s should be capable of taking on some kind of leadership positions within firms within the next 5 or 10 years and I know many of us feel woefully unprepared. very few of us had worked with people who when we started would have been job captains and could relate to us more easily than the much older technologically inept PMs and PAs who we all ended up working for. I think we all spent a lot longer learning and gaining experience because we were the ones who were forced to bridge this gap.
Interesting article. There is a large gap and I am sure if you were to ask a mentor type, you would hear that there were similar symptoms of profession decay, the last major recession. There's a wealth of knowledge from those that weathered that storm that is simply going no where. Those that are older, are challenged to keep up with tech + apps. Those that are younger, are ahead of the game but lacking in experience. They want to do it all though. Those of us in the middle, hear that we are not experienced enough. At this rate, it's almost a matter of forgetting the prized 40 under 40 and looking forward to the prized 50 or even 60 under 60.
Mentorship is one thing the profession needs to ramp up. This is just one of several key items the profession needs to work on. Commercial markets are going to be tougher the next couple of years, and housing is a whole different chapter. In the meantime, the ranks / the herd will thin out even more.
anyone find the picture of the guy posing with the corbusier chaise lounge hilarious?
Mr. Trahan misses an important point here: The people who left the profession were probably fast learners who picked up new skills and tools quickly, and would be able to do the same BETTER than people who hadn't left the profession, if Mr.Trahan gave them a chance. Sad.
On a more personal note, the firms I (and I suspect the same is true for a lot of kids from my generation) worked at didn't bother mentoring us or helping us with continuing education. When they needed to implement Revit or something, they just fired people and hired new people. It's their own fault for not investing in their people.
I'm 48 and have a Masters in Architecture over 22 years of experience, but when I began working in 1989, over half the Registered Architects that were running these firms only had a few years of college. Beacuse that was all that was required to sit for the ARE in the early seventies and before. Thus most of the firms were very top heavy with these people which pushed down salaries and made alot of people my age who were required to get Masters degrees to leave the field for much better paying professions that required the same education. ( MBA's, BS in engineering, BS in computer science all make 50% to 100% more money at entry positions and in middle management). I seen this at all small, middle, and large firms that I have worked at. Now that this large group aged 55 to 70 are finally retiring there are few people in the 40 to 55 age group to replace them. This has been happening over last 10 years.
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