selophane.blog

One of the things that has been the most disturbing to me since I graduated and joined the world of working architects is how little our craft seems to be understood in the United States, not to mention how little demand there is for architects to work on projects. There is a discussion raging over on archinect about the public conception that architects are wealthy, well paid, and always in high demand; while in reality compared to most of the other white collar professions (doctors, lawyers, et al.) it is the opposite. I for the past three weeks I’ve been trying to figure out how to explain why I think this is the case without devolving this post into a history lecture, and I think I’ve finally figured out how to do that. The root behind all of this confusion is two fold.

First, while architects work in the twenty-first century world, we still base our business on a nineteenth century business model. Unlike other doctors and lawyers who offer a mix of relatively small fee quick services (like sick visits and legal consultation) and large fee longterm services (complex procedures and trial and business law) architects perform mostly large fee longterm services for our clients. Most of our billing is for long drawn out projects, and even when we are involved in smaller home renovation services these projects still take weeks. What we need to discover is a way to sell single visit architectural consultation services which would be attractive to the public. To do this we have to determine a way to quantify the value that our services would add and why business and home owners should hire us instead of a less expensive builder driven solution. This leads into the second issue that architects face.

Architecture is a classist profession, it is only seen as necessity for business and government and as a luxury for upper and upper-middle class people. This contrasts sharply with Doctors and Lawyers who are seen as vital components to the modern way of life. Even the person of the most modest means will most likely visit a doctor in their life, whether through a medical clinic, hospital, or health care plan of some sort. In addition, since 50% of marriages end in divorce, even the poorest person has a very good chance of needing legal counsel if not for divorce, for some other reason. Whereas, most people will never work with an architect directly, and if they live in rural or suburban America, they will probably never live in a home designed by an Architect; the closest they will come will be working in buildings which are required by law to be designed by an Architect. This detachment from our industry prevents people from realizing not only the value of our services, but why we charge what we do for them. This lack of knowledge and detachment makes architecture and design a mysterious luxury, one which is far outside the world of most Americans. This will only change when we as a field discovers a way to make quick small fee services which will make us more accessible and affordable and not such a luxury.

So I’ve been on the job market since February; in that time, I’ve applied for over 175 different positions. Some of these have been outside of the world of architecture, while most have been with architecture practices.

I can see the writing on the wall, the architecture industry is changing and until it finds its new face there are not going to be many new positions out there working for other people. This is one of the reasons I’ve started my own residential design firm, studioSML, with a good friend of mine. On one hand we have the dream of working for ourselves, but on the other we are trying to be realists and understand that it is very likely that we will not bring in enough money to be self sufficient for years. This means that we both need full time positions elsewhere, and not just temporary ones. We are looking for long term (a number of years) positions that will allow us the ability to work on our own projects while still paying the rent/mortgage.

In my mind, the best way to accomplish this is to find jobs outside of architecture, and for me that means looking to my graphic design experience. Now, don’t get me wrong, if I somehow find a position with another architect or interior design or find myself with so much work i can actually take a salary I’ll be overjoyed, but I’m trying to be realistic. So I have been applying for graphic design jobs and not gotten much of a reply. Tonight, I finally got some helpful feedback from a potential employer. He questioned my desire to leave architecture and my dedication to graphic design, as well as the inability for me to find a salary that both takes into account my architecture experience(+4 years and almost licensed) as well as my graphic design experience (less than 2 years).

I don’t really know how to respond. I’ve already reworked my resume to feature my graphic design skills, but i feel it would be wrong to leave off the last 4 years of architecture jobs. In addition, in my cover letters I mention that I am looking to redirect my career into graphic design and leave architecture. I also mention that I understand that my architecture experience outweighs my graphic design experience, but that in my opinion (and hopefully theirs) it allows me to approach design issues form a different point of view. Beyond these measures I’m not sure what to do. Do I start applying for senior positions, or continue applying for entry level to positions requiring 2 years of experience?

[Image via The Washington Post.]

The Washington Post ran an article recently highlighting the human side of how this recession (depression?) is affecting architects in the DC area.

One of the people they interviewed is a former co-worker of mine from a few years back. I’m saddened to hear that she is also going through what I am dealing with. Like most of us unemployed architectural professionals, she is a hard worker and team player and does not deserve to be jobless. Unfortunately she is in a worse situation than I. She’s a foreign national and when she lost her job she lost her work visa. I can’t imagine having to deal with the pressure of knowing that not only do you need a job to pay the bills, but also to keep living here.

In a time such as this, when illegal immigration has become such a hot button issue, you would think there would be some outcry for the legal immigrants who came through all of the right channels. Now face a horrible decision; give up all that they have accomplished and move back because someone let them go, or overstay their visa and risk deportation. I think there should be some sort of federal stimulus based amnesty/leniency for work visa holders who have been laid off through no fault of their own. The immigrants rights groups need to address this before we start to lose all the foreign talent we have attracted.

We’ve been in this crisis since September and I’ve been wondering how this has affected other people.