Practicing Architecture –  Personal Experiences (1)

” Practicing Architecture –  Personal Experiences ”

a series of articles by

Michael Perciali, AIA, NCARB, OAR, LEED GA
Architect Planner Designer, Visiting Lecturer

When I first entered the race for a good architectural / engineering job in Chicago, IL, of 1980’s, it was during Regan induced recession – I was told – but did not understand what it has to do with design. We did not have these market fluctuations in the country I left behind – how could I have known it.

Chicago was a strong job market even during those challenging years – I hear around me:  “if there is shortage of jobs around the country, still can find something in Chicago” – which was true.

Ever since I competed for good A/E jobs, “competition” has remained a word in our mind, a reality of life for us architects.

Other words one could hear during the 80’s, 90’s, were: “affordable healthcare for all” – this one killed many jobs in bio-pharma, “universal accessibility”- created a new layer for us architects, “professional liabilities”- put a break in our involvement on day-to-day jobsite presence, gentrification, showing  the power of $ and influence always succeeding regardless of our advocacy efforts.  Understanding or not what these words really mean is irrelevant; these words shaped the society at different times including our design profession. These notions were / are so new to some of us educated and practicing somewhere else that feels like the profession of architecture is re-invented in the US with norms that did / do not exist elsewhere and one needs to start from scratch.  Later in 2000 and after, – other words penetrated our profession, making it even harder to navigate, i.e.: “Affirmative action opportunities” CAD, “gender equality opportunities”, “politically correctness” relocation, globalization, technology transfer, regulations, climate change, mentoring, all – and others likewise – adding layers and layers on our profession, while the ever existing word “competition” becoming more and more painful when competition was taken at a global scale.  How can one in US compete with one in Asia working around the clock for a much lower pay? Honestly, I see no worthy value added by a firm charging 100 times more on a project, neither our customers can see that, so the trend of outsourcing was expected and it arrived.

It is known, architectural schools in US and elsewhere do not prepare students to navigate in a society where priorities are constantly changing and require from us a deep participation in shaping legislation to protect the profession. It is also widely accepted that architecture is a mirror of the society it addresses; therefore there is no escape from it.  One can say – it is a distraction from the real thing, it brings cost and time inefficiencies, it never happened that way in the past when architects were highly respected.  I can tell you that even if we live in a smaller and smaller world, architects are viewed and are practicing in different way in different cultures around the globe. US, traditionally was and still is a catalytic of all values, was / is in the forefront of innovation and changes that later penetrate or not other cultures. For us was / is a matter of choice where to bring our talent.

Today we are witnessing new layers which have never been seen in recent history. It was only a few years ago when this could not be seen possible. We see pandemics, global warming, war in Europe, we see clashes of political ideologies, world and countries divided by ideas, canceled cultures on many levels, replacing theory, violence and all in a public forum available to all at no cost. Personally, I do not find this to be a good climate for creative / innovative work – quite the opposite, yet we need to practice our profession as a means of survival. Why does it have to be that way? Does anyone see it differently?  Please let us know.

TBC (to be continued) and feedback is welcome – better@we-better.com

31/08/2022

#better gazduieste articole ale unor personalitati recunoscute in domeniul ARHITECTURA & CONSTRUCTII.. Michael Perciali este un arhitect român care profeseaza de multi ani in Statele Unite ale Americii .