Architectural hiring and related architecture jobs are in demand due to the rise of educational construction projects.
The architecture industry is poised for substantial growth. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an 8% growth in architect jobs and other related architectural hiring by 2028, surpassing the average for all occupations. This growth is largely driven by demographic trends demanding extensive construction and renovation of educational facilities. These dynamics present significant opportunities for architects, especially those specializing in educational architecture.
Understanding the Growth Drivers
Shifts in demographics and educational methodologies are underpinning the demand for new academic facilities and renovations. As schools aim to create environments that enhance comfort, inspiration, and collaboration, architects play a pivotal role in designing inclusive and vibrant spaces that cater to diverse learning and sensory needs. Sustainability is also crucial, with schools increasingly adopting efficient plumbing, rainwater harvesting, and natural daylighting.
Opportunities in Educational Architecture
The rise in educational projects offers lucrative opportunities for architects skilled in integrating technology and sustainability into their designs. These projects often require innovative solutions that support digital transformations in education, such as AI, VR, and seamless online learning transitions. Architects proficient in sustainable design and tech integration are exceptionally well-placed to thrive in this evolving market.
Implications for Hiring in Architecture
With the industry expanding, architectural firms need to adapt their hiring strategies to meet the surge in demand for skilled professionals capable of handling educational projects. There is a growing need for architects who can incorporate sustainability practices and digital technologies into their designs, reflecting the broader shift towards buildings that support societal and environmental well-being.
Strategies for Staffing Firms
Staffing firms specializing in architecture, like Consulting For Architects, Inc., can capitalize on these trends by tailoring their recruitment strategies to attract professionals experienced in modern educational architecture. They can offer training in the latest architectural software and sustainability practices to keep candidates at the forefront of industry advancements.
Conclusion and Recommendation
As the architectural landscape continues to evolve with the integration of sustainable and technological advancements in educational environments, there is a robust demand for specialized architectural expertise. To effectively manage this uptick in demand and ensure a steady supply of qualified candidates, HR departments at architectural firms should develop long-term relationships with credible staffing firms. Consulting For Architects, Inc. (CFA) is recommended for its deep industry knowledge and specialized focus on architectural staffing. For more information on how CFA can assist your firm, visit (http://www.cons4arch.com). Partnerships with such firms can be a strategic asset in securing the necessary talent to capitalize on emerging opportunities within the educational architecture landscape, supporting industry growth and innovation.
It is difficult to determine precisely how many hiring firms use AI keyword searches on incoming resumes, as this information is not widely available. However, many companies are likely using AI and machine learning technologies to help streamline their recruitment process and identify the most qualified candidates for open positions.
AI keyword searches can be an effective way for companies to quickly scan through large numbers of resumes and identify candidates who have the skills and experience that are relevant to the job. This can help companies save time and resources and may be particularly useful for companies that receive a high volume of applications for open positions. Suppose you are applying for a job and are concerned about whether the company or placement agency uses AI keyword searches on incoming resumes. In that case, you can try contacting the company directly to ask. Alternatively, you can search online to see if any information about the company’s recruitment process is available.
To optimize your resume for an AI keyword search, you should include relevant keywords specific to the job you are applying for. This will help ensure that your resume is picked up by the AI system and is more likely to be reviewed by a hiring manager. Here are a few tips for incorporating keywords into your resume.
Use the job posting as a guide: Look for specific skills, qualifications, and experience mentioned in the job posting, and make sure to include these keywords in your resume.
Use industry-specific language: Include terms and phrases commonly used in your industry, as these are likely to be keywords for which the AI system will look.
Use action verbs: Use strong, active verbs to describe your accomplishments and responsibilities, as these will help make your resume more impactful and easier for the AI system to understand.
Use consistent formatting: Use the same font and layout throughout your resume to make it easier for the AI system to parse and understand.
Proofread: Be sure to carefully proofread it to ensure that it is free of spelling and grammar errors, as these can make it harder for the AI system to understand and may result in your resume being overlooked.
By following these tips, you can help ensure that your resume is recognized by hiring firms’ AI keyword search and has a better chance of being reviewed by a hiring manager.
We launched our current website late last June. Since that time we have matched over 100 architects and designers with firms throughout New York and more recently Los Angeles. In addition to our standard methods of recruiting and talent coordination we have relied heavily on our new job board.
“I search the job board for project work and it saves me a lot of time. It’s quicker than a phone call and CFA is always good about calling for openings that their clients prefer to be kept confidential.” Gary Krauss.
The job board is more than a place to post our current openings, although it does that very well. It is also a Job Agent. The Job Agent gives Candidates the option to enroll in automatic email alerts that notify them when openings matching their interests appear on our JobDiva Candidate Portal. To subscribe, Candidates can simply click the link ‘Sign-up for Job Agent,’ which appears at the top right corner of your JobDiva Candidate Portal.
Candidates may then enter criteria for opportunities that interest them, choose the frequency of notifications, and title the Job Agent. All they need to do next is click ‘Create Agent,’ and they will begin receiving emails with links to the newest openings on our website. If you would like to have a Job Agent here are the Set-Jobs-Agent-Instructions.
“The Job Agent works for me around the clock. When a CFA recruiter posts a new job at 1:00 in the morning and it matches my skill set I get an alert. I really like it.” Derek Paul.
The job board is also a full featured Candidate Portal with multiple features. You can sign in and open your password protected page, register your resume, update your resume, keep track of your time and billing, follow your placement history, and stay abreast of new job posting with our RSS feed. You can also register your resume without registering for a specific job.
A fictional tale about an architect and his career
The end came for William some 1,800 miles and 26 years from where it all began. It’s an all too familiar scene. The partners gather, you’re “invited” to join them in the conference room. Eschewing eye contact, you’re told what a great employee you are, how valuable your contributions have been but, alas, they have to let you go. Can we please have your keys?
Changing the world
I think all of us believe, as architectural undergrads, that we will be the next Frank Lloyd Wright, Corbusier, or, heaven forbid, Daniel Liebskind. The heroic image of the architect (Howard Roark?) resonates loudly as we work night and day developing architectural concepts that not only are going to one day save the world but more importantly land us a job at one of the “starchitect” firms who’s work pollutes the architectural press. From there it’s on to private practice, publication, national acclaim and turning down commissions that are not worthy of our talents. You want me to do what! Don’t you know who I am? Reality? There’s no time for that! Like an architectural ponzi scheme the monster must be fed, illusions must be maintained and the next generation of architects must be trained on the ashes of those that have come before.
Reality
The first taste of the real world for William, the newly minted apprentice, comes during the job search. That is when the disconnect to the real world makes its first appearance. What the architectural press does not report (or want anyone to know) is that the “starchitect” firms are built on what is essentially slave labor. “We do not pay as much as other firms and we do ask that you work day and night but when you leave here you will have the name or our great firm on your resume!” Think of what that will do for you career! Or you can work for a second-tier firm, one that actually has work built, where you may actually learn how buildings go together who will pay you a living wage but whose name you dare not mention at architectural seminars or cocktail parties. Aah, a crossroads. Didn’t Williams’ architectural education prepare him for this?
After many sleepless nights and endless coffee house discussions with friends about pursuing your craft versus earning a living William makes his decision. He splits the difference. He takes a position with a respected second-tier firm. They do good work, their drawings all look nice, they will pay him a decent salary and he could tell his friends who he work for.. I’ll cut my teeth here says Williams, than jump to the A list with my next move!
The caste system
Excitement builds, William is on his way now! This is when the disconnect to the real world makes its second appearance. He never believed it when he heard others say that it matters where you went to school. With my talent, it won’t matter! Aah, but it does!
There are three distinct education classes in the architectural profession; Ivy League (the perceived gold standard) private universities or, heaven forbid, state or city universities. (I know, I know, there are some good state schools out there, I just haven’t met any of those grads yet. Anybody out there a K-State grad?). In the mid-eighties William was an apprentice at a mid-size, nationally recognized firm in New York City. Not a “starchitect” firm but rather a trend follower that produced middle-of the road work. As a private university grad he thought he stacked up pretty well amongst his peers except for one small thing; his lack of an Ivy League degree.
That precluded William from ever landing a coveted “designer” position, (which would have allowed him to walk around the office with a black sweater on his shoulders and Corbu styled glasses hanging around his neck discussing the tenets of post modernism). Or from designing a three-story nursing home addition that neglected to consider that the existing buildings structural system may impact the design until a column showed up (pointed out by a state university grad) in the middle of the door entering the addition (on all three floors and the entire building had to be shifted to the right). From a Yale trained architect.
Instead, he was relegated to “project architect” status, producing construction documents while directing a team of drafters (again, state university grads). It takes a while before what is happening to you sinks in. You convince yourself its good experience, you’ll have your opportunity to design your own projects at your next job. So you jump ship, looking for the Holy Grail.
The Quest
The next job is always going to be different. After three or four jobs come and go the little voice in Williams head grows louder. I can do this! Look at all the idiots I’ve worked for! None of them were as talented as me. Maybe I should open my own practice. How hard could it be? Then I’ll be free to design what I want when I want it. I’ll show them! So he takes the plunge and starts his own practice.
The excitement is palpable. What’s so hard about this? He sets up his “studio”, hangs his licenses and private university diplomas on the wall and waits for the phone to ring. You convince yourself that you are different from the thousands of other firms providing the same services as you. Why is your firm better?
Because it’s yours!
The work starts to trickle in, run-of-the mill stuff but yours none the less. It won’t be long now! This may last or year or so, and the glow of the start-up is still burning. William pretends not to hear that little voice in his head. After a year or two, he’s still not doing the work he wants to do, still compromising, but hey, he’s got to put food on the table. This goes on for several years with varying degrees of success. Smaller projects are published, prestigious institutional clients are added to the firm roster and William becomes an “expert” in a project type that he didn’t even know existed prior to starting his practice. But the signature projects aren’t there, the ones that will land him on the pages of Architectural Record, and no matter how hard he tries the engine just won’t turn over. And there’s that voice again…
Reality Disconnect three
It starts to dawn on William that making a living working at architecture and creating works of architecture (or being able to look yourself in the mirror) are two separate things. “I’m not sure if it is the same in other professions but there is no correlation in architecture between talent and success” says William. Some of the more successful architects (in financial terms) that he has been associated with couldn’t even draw or think three-dimensionally. One would think that those attributes would be prerequisites for an architect, but a well trained low paid intern, tracing paper and a copy machine are adequate substitutions.
Perhaps you’ve heard of Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian responsible for the “You might be a redneck if….” comedy routines and joke books. You can do the same thing with architects says William. “You can make a living as an architect if….
-You are willing to compromise any values you may possess
-You have no problem with clients coming to you to “execute” their ideas (here’s a photo of another project we like, can you do this?)
-You recycle your designs (but change the corner roof hats to something “contemporary”)
-You have no problem undercutting your competitor’s 3-4% fee just to get the job
The Reversal
The architect hangs his hat on the adage ‘architecture is an old mans profession”. So we toil for years working for others or in our own practice waiting for the opportunity to show that we are not like the rest. We have talent damn it! It’s what keeps us going. And you would be surprised how long one can fool themselves thinking that the next one is going to be the one.
After several years in private practice, the little voice in Williams head starts to bellow. Is this all there is? Can I do this for another 25 years? He starts to think that private practice may not offer access to the once-in-a-lifetime commission he craves. Maybe it’s time to join one of those A-list firms? After all, look at all of the experience I have running my own practice? Who wouldn’t this expertise on their team? Well, as it turns out, pretty much nobody.
In the world of architecture leaving a private practice to once again become an employee is seen as an act of failure. Partners and principals distrust your motives, and staff can’t understand why anyone would want to give up working on their own to work for someone else. (I can understand that thinks William, it is a sentiment he shared as a young intern.) But he decides to give it a shot. “What else am I doing”, he thinks to himself? And then he realizes that after all these years nothing has changed. Architects are still being slotted based an educational bias, the people in charge don’t really have as much talent as him (if any at all) and the young generation of designers and architects leaves much to be desired.
William believes the profession has collectively suffered a death by a thousand cuts. Piece by piece our role of master builder has been dismantled. And we have no one to blame but ourselves. First it was construction management. What do we know about construction? We can’t possibly be committed to designing a project with constructability in mind, or seek creative ways to reduce a project’s cost without sacrificing functionality. Instead, we opened the door to having an intermediary injected into the architect-client relationship. What about energy efficient buildings? After all, before the “green movement” architects had been designing energy efficient buildings for thousands of years. As architects, what could we possibly know about the planning and design of “green buildings?. Obviously not much, as the profession sat idly by and lets LEED accreditation get fostered on ANYONE who can pass the exam. Need a green building designed? Call your neighborhood LEED accredited plumber!
Enlightenment
William comes to realize that clients view architects as nothing more than a commodity, a means to an end. There is no holy grail out there, no Fallingwater, Guggenheim Museum or clients with vision. Just the same get it done and get it out of here mentality. The fire in William is extinguished as he realizes that it is nothing more than what it is.
“Sometimes you get little opportunities to make a difference, over time maybe they add up to something. But you don’t see those projects as opportunities until they’re in the rear view mirror. That’s the problem with looking for the next best thing; you can’t always tell when it’s right in front of you. Maybe it’s just learning something about yourself, about what makes you tick. I don’t know, but I’ve got another 25 years or so to figure it out. I’ll get back to you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m wanted in the conference room.”
Don’t laugh this could happen to you….
This article was first published in 2009. It’s still relevant.
Robert Vecchione is an architect/designer and principal of the multidisciplinary firm Cobrooke Ideas-Architecture-Design (www.cobrooke.com).
After Sandy, the lifeguard stations on New York’s beaches were destroyed. But these new versions are built to withstand a storm–and might be a model for how to think about building better for the future.
Garrison Architects has created a plan to introduce net-zero energy, flood-resistant, modular structures along the beaches of Coney Island, Staten Island, and Rockaway Beach
Jim Garrison is a busy man. Just before Christmas, his architecture firm got a call from New York City officials asking if he could design and build nearly 50 lifeguard stations and other beach structures to replace the ones wiped out by Sandy. The one catch: The new units needed to open to the public in five months, on Memorial Day weekend, the symbolic start to summer.
The new structures will be constructed in a factory offsite, and later installed into site-specific support structures and access ramps on the beaches. Relying on quick-to-install modular structures in the future might serve as the foundation for the reconstruction of whole neighborhoods (as opposed to throwaway, temporary trailers).
When Garrison Architects needed shop drawings done so the contractor could begin fabrication, they called Consulting For Architects (CFA) to find them an architect to execute the drawings. “Within 24-hours, we closed the deal with Garrison Architects and a talented CFA Consultant who started this week.” stated CFA owner David McFadden.
Since then, “it’s been a wild ride,” Garrison told me over the phone on Tuesday. After 40 days worth of 16-hour planning sessions, Garrison Architects emerged with a plan to introduce net-zero energy, flood-resistant, modular structures along the beaches of Coney Island, Staten Island, and Rockaway Beach. He says his designs are not only economical and aesthetically interesting– but could help lay new groundwork for the way that cities respond to climate change-related disasters in the future, by relying on quick-to-install modular structures that serve as the foundation for the reconstruction of whole neighborhoods (as opposed to throwaway, temporary trailers).
Better lifeguard stations are nice, but their design could also help lay new groundwork for the way that cities respond to climate change-related disasters in the future
He says the initiative is the first time he can think of that any American city is “confronting the reality of starting to build infrastructure that can deal with these enormous storms and can live beyond them.”
Garrison’s designs for new lifeguard stations, comfort stations, and beach offices include a number of features that make them both flood-resistant and sustainable: they’re elevated above the new FEMA storm surge numbers, and they rely on photovoltaics, solar hot water heating, and skylight ventilators as part of a net-zero energy system. The wood siding was salvaged from boardwalks wiped out by Sandy.
The project also involves relandscaping the beaches, reintroducing dunes in certain places to help protect the shore, and eliminating boardwalks. “The waves basically just roll under [boardwalks] and sometimes take them away with them,” Garrison says.
The new structures will be constructed in a factory offsite, and later installed into site-specific support structures and access ramps on the beaches. According to a briefing by Garrison’s firm, “New York has only a handful of modular buildings, such as low-income trailer housing or modular classrooms, most of which essentially qualify as manufactured boxes on chassis, not unique designs. Our modules are a premier example of cutting edge modular building practices and sustainable design solutions for the future.”
The new buildings are elevated above the new FEMA storm surge numbers, and they rely on photovoltaics, solar hot water heating, and skylight ventilators as part of a net-zero energy system. The wood siding was salvaged from boardwalks wiped out by Sandy
What’s perhaps more impressive than the speed of the design is the way the city’s bureaucracy got out of the way to let the project unfold under tight deadlines. “I’ve never seen anything like it on [the city’s] part,” Garrison says (and he’s been designing buildings in New York for more than three decades).
Garrison hopes that the project serves as a model for disaster rebuilding efforts in the future, when it’s possible that Sandy-strength storms will be the norm. “Next time it hits, can we mobilize [modular design] as disaster housing? And I mean good stuff–not FEMA trailers that make people sick, stuff people can really live in for the long term?” Garrison wonders. “This is a way to build in an era of congestion, ecological challenges, and the need for permanence.”
Credit Zak Stone
Zak Stone is a staff writer at Co.Exist and a co-founder of Tomorrow Magazine.
The City Council has unanimously approved plans to redevelop the historic Pier 57 at 15th Street and the Hudson River, turning the eyesore into an urban, cultural and retail hub.
The approval clears the way for construction to begin at the pier, which has served as a dock for ocean liners, a former MTA bus depot and a holding pen for rowdy protesters arrested at the 2004 Republican National Convention.
WITHOUT ‘PIER’: An artist’s rendering of Pier 57 after a City Council-approved restoration that will create 425,000 feet of retail space.
Calling it “a major victory for Manhattan’s West Side community,” Council Speaker and mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn said the pier will provide “a new, sorely needed source of revenue” for the Hudson River Trust, which oversees the pier.
“Soon they will transform Pier 57 from an unused waterfront space into an innovative hub, a culture of recreation and public market activity, all located within a restored historic structure,” said Quinn, whose district encompasses the pier.
The plan calls for creating roughly 425,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space built from re-purposed shipping containers, designed by Young Woo & Associates — the same firm that designed Dekalb Market in Brooklyn, also built from old shipping containers.
It will be an “incubator for cutting-edge local and international brands and merchants,” the company said.
It will also feature an amphitheater and a marketplace area made from old airplane fuselages and 160-square-foot “incuboxes” — small spaces for local merchants, artists and start-up companies.
There will also be educational components, such as cooking schools, art galleries, photography labs and music-recording studios. The Tribeca Film Festival will use the 100,000 square feet of outdoor space as a permanent venue.
A 141-slip marina and water-taxi landing space will surround the pier. Construction will begin in October, the company said.
The approval comes after years of wrangling by developers and community activists and after a more elaborate design — a $330 million proposal from real-estate developer Douglas Durst — was killed in favor of the less expensive plan offered by Woo’s company.
The now rusted pier was built in 1952 from three concrete slaps floated down the Hudson River.
“Today’s approval brings us one step closer to transforming Pier 57 into a recreational, cultural and retail center that will provide yet another great destination for the Hudson River Park community,” Hudson River Park Trust President and CEO Madelyn Wils.
Online job advertisements for architects rose 20 percent during the last 90 days compared to the same time period in 2012, according to Wanted Analytics, a firm that tracks online job ads. There were a total of more than 16,000 architect jobs advertised in the past 90 days.
New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., San Francisco and Houston topped the list of metropolitan areas with the most job ads for architects.
“Autodesk AutoCAD” was the most commonly required skill in architect jobs. In the past 90 days, 5,500 jobs required CAD skills, representing about 35 percent of all hiring demand.
The most commonly required skills in architecture jobs include:
U.S. temporary employment jumped by 20,300 jobs in March, compared with the previous month, and the year-over-year growth rate ticked up, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition, the number of temp jobs added in February was revised upward by 22,000 jobs.
Year-over-year growth in temp jobs had been decelerating since November. However, the number of temp jobs rose by 6.4 percent year over year in March, up from the 5.3 percent increase in February.
Further, the U.S. temp penetration rate rose to 1.94 percent in March from 1.93 percent in February.
However, the U.S. added fewer jobs overall in March than February. Total non-farm employment rose by 88,000 jobs in March compared with an increase of 218,000 in February – Sending a clear signal that firms are exercising caution, temporary hires outpaced permanent hires for the same period.
The U.S. unemployment rate still fell to 7.6 percent in March from 7.7 percent in February. The college-level unemployment rate, which can serve as a proxy for professional employment, was unchanged from February at 3.8 percent.
In other industries, construction added 18,000 jobs in March. The BLS reported construction has added 169,000 jobs since September.
When it comes to sourcing the right interview candidates, I’ve never been keen to use recruiters. But I recently changed my mind.
My company, Metal Mafia, has an excellent candidate screening process, a super training program, and a very successful team of employees to show for it.
But hiring has always been a difficult task for me because each time I get ready to hire, it takes me forever to find the right type of candidates to even get the screening process started.
Despite the fact that I carefully consider where to advertise for candidates–I try to maximize the search dollars and get a good mix of potential applicants–it always takes me a long time to find people suited well to the company, and therefore, even worth interviewing.
I’ve tried everything from placing ads on large job boards like Monster.com, to smaller specialized job boards that cater to sales hires or fashion jobs, to local university boards where I can post for free (or close to it). Each time, I experience the same slow crawl toward finally finding the right person. It has taken me up to five months to find the right kind of hire in the past. So in November when I decided I needed to think about hiring for the new year, I was not optimistic.
For me, recruiters have traditionally been out of the question because I figured they would be a waste of time and never be as good at sending me the right people for the job as I would be in reviewing resumes myself. They’re also too expensive for my small budget. But as I got ready to place my job ads again, one of my senior staff members came to me and offered me the name of a fashion recruiter she knew and thought could help. I was skeptical, but I called her anyway, figuring listening would cost me nothing.
The recruiter convinced me she would do a thorough job, but I still hesitated because of the price. I do not have large sums of money to devote to the hiring process, and by my calculations, when all was said and done, using the recruiter was going to cost me three times as much as my usual techniques. On the other hand, the recruiter would only charge me if she found someone I decided to hire, which meant I was risking nothing, and could always come back to my original methods. I bit the bullet and signed up, reminding myself “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
The recruiter sent me the resumes of 10 entry-level candidates. I screened six by phone, met three in person, and found the right hire–all in a month. The cost suddenly became much less, because I saved so much time in the process, and because I got a pool of applicants who were decidedly better to choose from than in the past. Even more interesting, perhaps, was an insight the right candidate shared with me during the interview process. When I asked why she had chosen to work with a recruiter rather than post on job boards, she said “because recruiters make sure your resume gets seen, while submitting via the Internet is like sending your resume into oblivion.”
If most people these days are thinking like my new hire, the recruiters will clearly have the best selection of candidates every time. Looks like I’ve got an essential new hiring strategy.
Vanessa Merit Nornberg: In 2004, Vanessa opened Metal Mafia, a wholesale body and costume jewelry company that sells to more than 5,000 specialty shops and retail chains in 23 countries. Metal Mafia was an Inc. 500 company in 2009. @vanessanornberg
By connecting the dots in the media, markets, nations, books etc. one can generate ideas and spot trends. Today I shall connect dots from various sectors e.g. nations, projects, architects etc. with the purpose of doing news analysis and spotting the hot zones in the current market for architects. The analysis would be of the times when the East outsourced architects of the West. With this as the backdrop, here is my first article for this blog.
In the book titled ‘The Elephant and the Dragon’by Robyn Meredith, Nandan Nilekani has said that “People should look at careers which cannot be delivered over a wire. If someone is a cardiac surgeon, they are not going to be displaced. But if they are a radiologist, somebody from Bangalore is liable to check X-rays over a wire.” The moral being that jobs which will always stay in America are the one’s which are land and people bound.
Architecture is definitely land and people bound, for it is dictated by location, climate, context, local materials and the culture of the society. But given the state of technology in architecture, drawings, building models etc. can also be delivered over a wire. So it will be interesting to analyze the ramifications of the pull and push caused by these two forces, in the architectural profession. Interestingly many times the East has outsourced to the architects in the West. As a seer of this situation, I have compiled a list of circumstances under which this takes place. They are as follows:
1. When new nations are born or old become independent.
The political leaders of the above mentioned nations look for experienced minds to lead the way e.g. when India gained independence, her Prime Minister Pt. Nehru commissioned:
The British architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens to plan the city of New Delhi and
The French architect Le Corbusier to plan the city of Chandigarh.
Foster and Partners is in charge of designing “the world’s first zero carbon city on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi.” It has blended high-tech design and ancient construction practices into an intriguing model for a sustainable community.
4. When architects who specialize in a certain scale and type of projects are needed.
These are usually projects that are of national importance, have huge budget with funding by the government or a private client for whom budget is not a problem. Here are a few examples of these:
Frank Gehry was asked to design the Guggenheim museum in Bilboa because the client wanted something with the “wow value” of Sydney Opera House.
The Bird’s Nest Stadium in China was designed by the Swiss architecture firm, Herzog & de Meuron.
Here are many examples of museums in the Arab world that are being designed by star architects from the West.
5. When new found capitalism creates a booming economy.
With the growth of communist capitalism in China (from 1978) and democratic capitalism in India (from 1991), there has been tremendous growth in both the nations. Now that enough time has elapsed since its initiation, prosperity is trickling into the private sector as well. Hence clients in the private sector can afford the best that money can buy. Here is an article from NYT that cites many examples of private companies and people who have commissioned smaller American companies to design their projects. This is great news as it is bringing in much needed jobs in America.
It is interesting to note that when the West outsources to the East (in non-architectural sectors), it is done to reduce cost and it is usually done for low-level jobs. But when the East outsources to the West (in the field of Architecture) it is for jobs that require special expertise, innovation, creativity. These are usually high-level jobs where budget is not an issue.
With all this happening in the world, it would be right to predict that:
There would be many architectural firms from the West that would collaborate with the East, to meet the new demands of the market.
Many local companies in the West will grow into multi-nationals, to work on projects in the East.
The demand for architects who are multi-cultural and speak other languages besides English will grow. They will be the key links between East and West. They will enrich the profession with their unique understanding of both the worlds.
There would be major synergy of ideas between East and West.
To explain this better, I cannot help but think about two movies that would not have been what they are but for the hand of the West in them. Imagine Slumdog Millionaire (set in India)without Danny Boyle or Kung Fu Panda (set in China) without Hollywood. I don’t mean to belittle anyone but what I am trying to say is that the synergy between East and West can sure create miracles. Be it any field, Architecture and movies are just two examples. In conclusion, in order to fit better into the global economy, the architects from the West may even have to reinvent themselves. We sure are living in interesting times!
