What does an architect do?

What does an architect do?

Wow.  There is no simple answer to that question.  Architects are all people – what we do, and how we do it differs from person to person, firm to firm, sometimes even client to client.  Not everyone who studies architecture goes into a career in architecture, and everyone who begins a career in architecture doesn’t necessarily end there (or even become a licensed architect).  Over time, I hope to share stories and examples of people who are architects, designers, planners, writers, politicians, even football players; people who started out as architecture students and followed their path – wherever that may be.

Now, I want to share a little about me, and what I do.  I have discovered, to my great surprise, that I am an optimist – I see to believe that things will work out, that I will get the next project, that people will act a certain way; I now realize that I just have had poor coping skills when things didn’t go as I had hoped or expected.  The good news is, I have had decades of practice to work on those coping skills.

So, what do I (personally) do as an architect?  Well, I teach (currently at a community college), I practice architecture, I manage an office; I read, I write, I take photographs, I draw by hand; I love researching and seeking out new information, I love passing that on to people and applying that knowledge.  I love to connect to people – both in person and virtually. I wander around and look, and imagine what COULD be.  As an experiment, I started to list what an architect might do DURING the design process.

For example, we might:

•  Listen to clients, documenting needs and wants;
•  Gather project information;
• Verify compliance with codes, zoning, planning;
• Research materials, finishes, or other information;
• Communicate back to the client;
• Design spaces for living / working / playing;
• Edit / massage / change those based on client feedback or limitations of the site, the materials, or other factors;
• Teach the client along the way about the process and the finishes and selections;
• Create construction documents and details from which to build;
• Work with contractors to get pricing;
• Work with clients, vendors, and contractors to make selections for items and systems;
• Coordinate all the various information from trades and vendors to the client;
• Translate or interpret that information for the clients;
• Act as a representative FOR the client, and ensure that the contractors and vendors are providing services and materials that are best for the CLIENT, not best for them;
• Often learning FROM the contractors and vendors along the way;
• Keep records of what occurs during design and construction;
• Assist in purchasing or recommending purchases of appliances, paint, door hardware, cabinet hardware, cabinets, plumbing fixtures, lights, furniture (and making sure that those pieces work well together);
• We advise, and try to act in the client’s best interest.

In the end, there are many metaphors that people might use – we are like a chef, or like a master builder, we are like a house whisperer, we are like a master craftsperson, we are like an editor, or a conductor, or an owner’s representative. 

At the end of the day, though, we are The Architect.  And we are here to help create spaces in which you can live your life, and connect emotionally with the place we have helped you realize.

On any given project, we may do all of the above services, or only some.  Yes, we have a vested interest in making sure that it comes out correctly for our own marketing and satisfaction, but at its heart, architecture is a service profession.  We are here to make sure the CLIENT likes the project, and is happy, and hopefully is fulfilled in the spaces we have helped create.

What do YOU do as an architect?