“Big Tent” event brings together economists, designers in half-day session

Gary H. London

Architects and other designers need to readjust their careers to match the “new normal” in real estate development, according to local economist Gary London.

“The past is not prologue,” London says. “Virtually every understanding we’ve had about the built environment prior to the recession has changed.”

Those include smaller homes, less square footage per employee in offices, the Internets impact on stores and shopping and reduced manufacturing.

London said the upshot of these changes is that architects and others in related fields need to think of their career futures differently “because the environment will be different.”

“The job market will come back for them, but at the same, slow pace that the industry is expected to come back,” he said.

London will make these points at a half-day session sponsored by various architectural and design groups from 8 a.m to noon Saturday at the New School of Architecture and Design, 1249 F St. in downtown San Diego.

Organizers call it a “Big Tent” function, because it includes many design-related organizations and professionals all meeting in one place.

“The industry is 40 percent unemployed,” said architect Jack Carpenter, who is organizing the event. “The new economy is barely getting off the ground, and we know it is going to be different than it was.”

He said architects and others in the construction business will have to get used to working on smaller projects and, in housing, on apartments and town houses, rather than single-family homes.

“One thing we’re going to be talking about is expanding your portfolio,” Carpenter said. “You have to understand the new technology, construction management and other areas people might migrate into.”

Besides London, economist Alan Nevin also is scheduled to make a keynote speech. Panels will follow that include changes in governmental rules and regulation, new approaches to mixed-use development, legal changes affecting developers and financing issues.

Source:  San Diego Union-Tribune