Do Architects Have a Future?

[@jerickson_abuel]

Honestly this is a really hard question to ask. Potentially working towards a craft that might not have a future. I'm glad you don't shy away from these kinda topics. Very helpful especially for young people who might want to pursue this career. Oh and I really liked the video inserts. Made the video a bit more dynamic!

[@DamiLeeArch]

Thank you!! Experimenting with new video types 😊

[@MrGoalie2012]

What makes you think Architects might not have a craft in the future? There will always be a need for buildings, or futureizing the needs of building to accommodate larger populations ETC

[@drutalero2962]

@@MrGoalie2012 EXACTLY. no computer can replace the human element in architecture. our technology evolves but you'll need a human mind for all the nuance

[@t0nyxgq]

I totally agree with Evelyn's focus on the experience of the architect staff. Firms are made up of people and without a strong team of people, the firm can't grow. The biggest problem with architecture firms in my 12+ years of experience are the people also. As architect's we create the culture that we hate. This is because we're trained to be designers. We don't get trained to be business managers, project managers, lead generators, mentors, financial managers, etc. School taught us design and design is what we do and not many people branch out of that to improve other areas that's crucial for an architect's success. These categories include business, leadership, operations, technology, HR, etc. People at the firm you're working with doesn't teach you this. Some people learn what not to do, some people learn that's what it takes to success. Architects are great at design but most architects are terrible at everything else. That's why the firms are the way that they are. History repeats itself and each generation begets another generation but with the internet, channels like this and people like Demi and Evelyn, things can finally begin to change. If you're an architect in a PM position and you were a superstar job captain, most likely, you'll be a terrible PM. The skill of PM doesn't come naturally and needs to be learned. That's why there are so many terrible PMs out there causing terrible work life balance for their team and most principals don't do anything about it because everyone is trying their best. But "trying your best" is not good enough. You need to understand the goals and responsibilities of the position and learn to give what the role/project needs. Change, not work harder with more hours. This is turning into a mini rant! I do apologize! We need to change the culture of architecture firms. I think the revolution has started.

[@Viothon]

We have so much untapped potential in creating new things and expanding our economic power yet we are stuck in a race to the bottom. At the core we need some kind of one vison, pro-liberty western renaissance boom like in the 80s.

[@ryantoth531]

I agree, in at a university now for architecture having just completed my first year. I am going to be dual majoring in construction management, so I have the practical side of construction and how to run a business down.. Im going to go and look for experience and internships under construction leaders first before I do architectural ones, that way I have the real world experience of how crap works.

[@Kaygee79]

If you explore Architecture there are so many niche's to focus on. Towards the end of the video there was talk of the person who has expertise in culinary work. That is a tangent that is an entire career path on its own, kitchen consulting. I think having a niche area within Architecture you can become a specialist and make a fruitful path in that manner. Also it makes you the expert and other Architect firms may collaborate with your own specialized firm for the specific work. You really have to dive deep and there are many opportunities for viable careers in Architecture. Custom homes is another area I have seen where if you can build up the right network of clients it will keep you busy for years and you can potentially make a decent living that way too. Project management within Architecture is very lucrative as well. I have a background in kitchen consulting so I can relate to that area specifically.

[@latteARCH]

My grad program professors often ask the same question to us. After learning the history and the current state of architecture, I've honestly not been too optimistic about the profession if it stays the way it is.

[@whaletune]

You let your interviewees completely speak out their ideas without interrupting them! So important and wonderful to see! A REAL discussion! R A R E! Howard Roark laughed!

[@danieldonaldson8634]

I started out in design, and adjacent to architecture, working inside numerous firms. This goes back the early 1980's. By the mid 80's the combination of toxicity in the design business in general, and architecture in particular, along wth the underlying instability of employment of any such non-essential sector, had me fully committed to tech. I've developed software, been a founder, did work on the web from its inception, embraced mobile early, and since the late 90's I build educational experiences to bring people into tech. What is missing, but maybe has to be, is that tech is, at its core, based on making mistakes, really big ones sometimes, that get learned from. This is recoverable when it's an app, a service, a website, but not if you've poured concrete, and not if you've just spent 8 months or 3 years getting the approvals and the financing to do so. The underlying iterative model that lies behind approaches like Agile sound like a good idea, but zero cost of replication for new iterations of a product, A/B testing, the separation of business logic and presentation are key to making it work, and do not and won't exist in architecture, and only barely in industrial design. The other issue is credentialism. My other passion in this is tech education (I'm currently pushing out a new course in Cambodia that develops game dev skills in their national STEM programs, part of a long term interest in translating tech capacity to emerging economies), I can do what I do - create accelerated, informal education in tech, because it software, like in games, It doesn't matter what your academic qualifications are. It comes down to, can you actually write code? There are no architects' stamps in software that act as choke points for possibility. But it also affects accountability, and software has a different model for that than architecture. People in tech are in a process of continuous self-driven retraining around languages, techniques, technologies etc., and the vast majority is ad hoc. Whatever route you got into tech development with, by year 5, there's a very good chance that zero, or close to zero of your original skillset is useful. Tech is filled with people of varying levels of ability, all involved in creating their own models of education, at all times. Finally, underlying technologies like code repositories, versioning, branching, merging, driven by "user stories" is an example among man of a process that I don't think architecture fully understands. The inception of high-flexibility software that drove the change in architecture exemplified by Hadeed and Gehry and Rogers in the last 4 decades has been essentially naive; that software is only a small part of the story. The potential for rapid design and visualization is also the capacity to create fundamental conflicts. Lacking the kinds of structured reconciliation models that are half-technical and half human soft skills, where without hierarchy, people contribute freely and on the basis of merit and not pecking order, just is antithetical to what architects in my acquaintance experience. What seems to be advocated for is basically more money for architects, more services that they can charge for. Like software development, the actual process of implementing the design is only a fraction of what actually happens, and clients and especially the public don't understand this. But unless architecture can reconcile the iterative processes that software has developed - which given that on the one hand architecture is the most instantiated of the professions, and software development is the most ephemeral, even immanent - they won't be able to come through on this. The model here is McKinsey, who regularly defraud the public and private sector by emitting an aura of competence in places where they have no expertise, and simply demand to paid huge sums to learn. This is not going to happen in architecture. Architecture runs on trust; consulting runs on fear. You can't reconcile those. Fundamentally architecture - what clients are asking for, the place where the value added lies - is the practice of attaching signifiers of prestige to real estate, which has no fundamental effect on the viability or effectiveness of the underlying economics. The reason those signifiers are needed at all is to enforce the visual regime of exclusion that economic systems based on unequal, speculative land use and ownership assert. The severity of the International style, like Empire Architecture and everything else back to the Romans, gain their value to the degree that they can impose a visual embodiment of that exclusion, to serve stable social order that generates chaotic forces. Why can't you just be happy doing that?

[@AndrewNation13]

These two are incredible ambassadors for the future of architecture as it relates to literary everything 😊🤙

[@mohdsayed2234]

I've always been thinking of tech, data analysis and architecture a lot I love that way of thinking a lot

[@StoneNayoung]

So cool to see two professional Asian female architects 🤎

[@bastiaanvinkestijn9928]

Very interesting question, that is impossible to answer in a short video unfortunately. Just discovered Dale2, it shows that the creativity of even an architect can be scripted with AI. Our job is not the same as before, a new era is here.

[@jorgecanalesbarrera7090]

That's an amazing topic. Great job again, Dami

[@DamiLeeArch]

Thank you 😊

[@AndrewNation13]

Dami & Evelyn are doing a really great job of speaking to my heart on this one, Thank-you both so much for making real considerate content like this, I understand that it takes courage and everything seems risky yes, but you both make working in the realm of architectural design much more of an open topic than a design pitch or mailing list, I greatly appreciate both of you despite everything that's affecting us all as of late and intend on saying it again too. 😎✌️

[@asmiivarshney3380]

I was also thinking of persuing architecture but i didn't know if it will be the need of future or not.

[@mr.pancakes9213]

Same

[@rei-dr5wl]

I'd stick to structural engineering, structures/infrastructure resilient against our deteriorating climate will be far more needed in the future than the ability to "shape a space"

[@NoneFB]

Pursuing

[@diegaah]

she's identifying incredible points and factors. Evelyn Lee - I hope she has more talks

[@urbancolab]

Great to see you interview my friend Evelyn Lee!

[@EvelynMLee]

It's a small small world - architecture.

[@kengchooamir]

architects need to design within budget, take an advanced course in building maintenance, and officially address the proposed buildings' lifespan & future demolition / recycling strategy.

[@jrshaul]

You just described an engineer.

[@kengchooamir]

@@jrshaul or a responsible architect

[@jrshaul]

@@kengchooamir I've never met an architect who's performed a concrete proctor. Lab techs perform them on their first day of training. The first question when designing a building should not be aesthetic or even human. It should be "What is the building sitting on?" Manhattan was not built down from the sky; it was built up from schist and gneiss.

[@kcockbur]

@@jrshaul part of being an architect is gathering information so that we can make sound decisions. When the responsibility is usually on the owner to supply that info and they fail to, the architect usually gets the blame.

[@jrshaul]

@@kcockbur Every contractor on a construction site operates under the assumption that they're going to be held personally responsible for a failure. Negotiating the complicated web of responsibility is a trade skill they don't teach in school. Nevada, for example, operates on a double-or-nothing system where disputes may be resolved by bringing in a third party and letting the contractor in the wrong cover the additional bill. I have friends in the trades. Architects are cursed every step of the way. It's not directly your fault, but the architect makes plans based on limited information and optimism - and everyone else is required to deal with the consequences. A lot of buildings have silly, faddish designs that are celebrated when they're built and cursed ten years later when people realize "open floorplan" is an euphemism for "echo chamber" and the structure starts sinking into the swamp like a Monty Python joke. The engineer's job is to conform to legal limits - not to tell you you're a fool. At the end of the day, you sell the client what they ask for. But what the client asks for isn't what they want, and everyone trapped between their failed dream in reality suffers for it.

[@peterk4134]

It’s a huge topic for discussion here. Louie Khan would ask the brick how it want to be handled, Mies went for Less is More, then came less is a bore. Because of corruption and kickback, I turned to teaching and I soon saw potentials in students. Some students gave up the course. One did Maths and years later came back and thanked me for the advice. Suffice to say here that the course is one the a few which teaches you HOW to think and solve problems. Think Da Vinci, strive to be a Universal Person

[@jaymarx8927]

I have great respect for Evelyn and thinks she has a lot of great points. I have always tried to be transparent particularly with junior staff on my projects and include them as much as possible. However, that comes at a cost to the project. We often don't have the fee to have 4 people from our team in long meetings like AOC that are happening every week. But I look at people as being a long-term investment and I think the more that they understand about the whole picture, the more invested they will be in the project and the better they will be able to perform. If they are going to complain about participating or just do the bare minimum, I can't absorb that cost of going the extra mile for them. Also, there is a huge difference between architecture and tech in terms of liability. I think it's fine for junior staff to go on site visits, and sometimes even unaccompanied, but I tell them not to make any formal decisions on the spot, to take it all in and go back to the office to issue a formal response. So much is riding on our response being correct. It also makes us look bad if a person blurts out a wrong answer and I have to correct them on the spot. I have been a bad manager at times, but mostly I try to be the boss I wish I had instead of the ones that I did. When I was a bad manager, I was buying into some of the unspoken attitudes that are strangling the profession. I've had some good role models, but so much of my experience has been horrible. Between the attitude that people should pay their dues, the top-down decision making, the rampant narcissism, level of privilege, arrogance, and insecurity architects are tough to work for. Bad businesspeople, pursuit of perfectionism, always needing to show that we are the best and brightest, really blinds us to reality. It's not rocket science!!! I never want to do work for an architect again.

[@the3rdmaster311]

Most useful and important information in the video in 9:58 , thank you

[@tobygoodguy4032]

I left it 2 years out of school ... with a (useless) license in 1980 and went into construction management, eventually retained by New York real estate developers. (Made a ton of coin and retired at age 60 - which, for a Boomer is respectably young.) Have fun competing with the robots.🤠

[@alaskalay]

There’s a lot of corporate office politics in architecture firms especially big ones. A lot of us had passion for good architecture but as u start working you’d realise people who don’t care architecture and corrupted actually make further in the company, it’s a business after all. They don’t care about what talents you have even you as a person, you are a computer program user who helps them to build models and do documentation aka make money for the company. It’s so depressing, makes you question your love for architecture and decision to become an architect, especially when all you do is working overtime still barely pays rent and bills.

[@rryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy]

my dad is a architect in china and he has a architecture company, he says that it is getting harder and harder to run it

[@davidhead336]

It's even harder doing it in Africa

[@mosskussfilms]

I really liked your video shots ! Great job and concept :)

[@seanzhang3873]

Architects have a lot of responsibility yet we are not getting paid enough. I think firms should starts charging client in a hourly rate, this might help mitigate the issue of overworking while underpaid architecture work.

[@zomalfa4363]

I think we need to talk about the Fountainhead, as far as renewal is concerned it had a lot to say.

[@powrrangr99]

I’m not sure if the video’s title is worded properly. As long as densification is needed for urban centres, architects will continue to obtain business. My knowledge on AI-powered architecture is very poor (so correct me if I’m wrong), but are they capable of going through the permitting process, hitting parking/bike stall counts, properly locating space for M&E, and/or generating design that complies with AHJ’s OCPs? Until those tasks are automated and densification continues, architectural practice will have a future and the job demand will be there. Your mentioned problems of fees, time, on-boarding, culture etc are very real and hold back the profession from reaching its best balance/performance for workers. To me, the video should be asking if the practice will improve.

[@DamiLeeArch]

Great points. The job has too many nuances to disappear, but at its current state, it's not attractive enough for a critical amount of people to want to join the profession.

[@BLKBRDD]

Working in the construction industry, I think the biggest issue is overdesign and having a poor understanding of the hardware and joinery requirements and tolerances to achieve what is desired. Contractors are always going to tell you what you want to hear, it would pay to be more cynical

[@T-JP]

I imagine that being an architect requires a lot of travel to be able to meet the demand for the architectural requirements of multiple areas. But with any job or career should architects not invest in themselves as well. Things like building apartment complexes, townhomes, or condos, and then running them yourself, would that not meet the requirement of propelling your own future as an architect further. From that point, by controlling your own space, You can freely work on the architectural needs of other clients while fulfilling your own needs. Am I in the ballpark or have I missed an important piece of the puzzle?

[@lumii903]

I have been thinking about the same for a while now. It's something I want to do, hope its possible

[@thepoet77]

Very insightful and smart women........I definitely cherish the ideas in this video and will have it as a reference......Thank you DamiLee.

[@AnthonyGugliotta]

Interesting and relevant discussion. I would have worded the title something along the lines of: "Do Architects Gatekeep?"

[@jeremyyoung3467]

Recently I am frustrated want to continue to get further study for architecture or not, I was Architecture Degree holder, I have experience and skill to produce drawing but the main point is my design sense not outstanding. After Half way of your video, I think I should change the path.

[@echuderewicz]

Thanks. These discussions are great.

[@TheLalawitch]

I am interested on working with urbanism firms once I finished my undergraduation in architecture here in Brazil. Do u think it is possible to interview people who work in urbanism? Thks a lot

[@sparksmcgee6641]

Ace labs site is so insecure i cant sign into it. Gave it a try. Microsoft suite on medium and medium high security setting.

[@namelesshealth]

Great video on realities of your great profession. But I am wondering How is A.I. specifically changing the field of architect . A.I. is creating disruption over all industries. More insight into the technologies of A.I. architecture that is being used currently more in detail would be great.

[@1xm_mx1]

Architecture needs a revolution to remove the old and obsolete mind-sets and install new and up-to-date mind-sets to adapt and survive in this constantly changing and quickly changing environment. We also get paid too little in comparison to our responsibilities.

[@fourkun9504]

Would AI replace architects? It's something I'm the most worried about. With the rise of Dalle-2, Midjourney and such... Would architecture be the next to be replaced?

[@javierpacheco8234]

Hope not because I'm studying to be an architect and personally I don't respect robots doing my work because I can do it as well. But I am not scared of it.

[@fallindevast5574]

Robots/AI can never understand humans, thus it can't empathize with the client's personality, needs, dislikes, etc.

[@jrshaul]

@@fallindevast5574 90% of being an architect is making sure there's enough toilets and the doors let wheelchairs through. Computers are pretty good at that.

[@taytay4439]

I’m really indecise between law and architecture...I really don’t know what to choose

[@lumii903]

What did you end up choosing ?

[@rockabillyrevolution]

Left the profession in 2017 after 25 years - it was a miserable existence. Never looked back since. 😊

[@lumii903]

What are you doing now ? Also glad u found something better

[@NoneFB]

I’ve viewed this twice now. You have a very good concept to present here but this is not a good interview at all. An outline will show that it wanders around way too much - there is no take away. Before you do this again you should brainstorm for an outline that goes back into decades of the concerns for architecture and education - no small task. Money, time, union, liability. Why do people quit? (This interview ended up talking about food.)

[@DamiLeeArch]

I agree there's a lot of room for improvement with my interview skills. Condensing a 1hr interview into 15 minutes is also a challenge, and im sure i could have spent more time sorting through to create a better story. The full interview is available in the link in my description if you'd like to check it out. Thanks for the feedback 😊

[@jainilsiroya]

I agree with frank! You didnt answer the question, and thats a disappointment for me

[@ian-cq9nx]

@@DamiLeeArch I can't seem to find this link. :(

[@latteARCH]

Would love to see a future video that addresses this more.

[@EvelynMLee]

@@DamiLeeArch also it helps if you have an interviewer who is responding with a completely clear mind and not recovering from COVID. This is not all on you!

[@Bonserak23]

I am just really getting going with it in school. The field seems to be having something of an identity crisis from what I am feeling. I think the trend for the next 20 years will actually be a even more personal approach with clients and educating them about what architecture can do. Also as a millennial I like to think that my future clients in 10-15 years may be generation Z. Which idk I have a feeling from observing and talking that they are going to actually want something human made and not artificial. Home wise.

[@mohdsayed2234]

Really awesome....Great way of thinking...

[@ActuallyAbdullah]

It makes me sad-and for me it’s actually halted my own pursuit of education. You’d think with the way the world is expanding, evolving, and cities are growing, that the need for great design will only increase.

[@lumii903]

Under capitalism everything gets worse

[@AndrewNation13]

love these ones, I'll be ok

[@rei-dr5wl]

Short answer: No Long Answer: Maybe...

[@MassiveJetGrind]

I foresee the 'Dami Lee Institute of Advanced Architectural Science and Cultural Development'.

[@marianart3383]

Can I study architecture after 40 years old I need your advice is it a good or bad idea

[@ruairicostin9442]

4-5years study + 2 years supervised lower work. If you think that is worth it i think you should go for it.

[@coolmasterx5707]

No

[@brigittahoffmann9283]

What a pity that we can not add pics here on youtube. As i would have many things to attach about how the corrupt society is treating people, or how i have been discriminated as a young professional just after graduation being paid 4000 euro less than the account couple in the same company, i have find out later. All this on european union watch and funds. Where that couple got a high salary and a 100k - 140k euro house paid over 30 years, around 4000 euro per month in loans!!!! I never got this. But in the uk i have been literally blocked from becoming a practitioner and bullied by evil people (o mean people in the uk are just absolute evil and so their behaviours) and again...surprise surprise they have made sure to give to the accountants, constructors and their children, politicians and other people new built homes and access to those and literally destroyed my life as a young professional and a young mother to be, and my whole family sociology economic life!!!! Also underpayed, treated with disgrace, absolutely disgusting is to work anywhere on the uk, from London to whatever other city here. At zero point i have received the right treatment in this society and at zero point i have been given the decent and fair stability and salary as a practitioner. Sexism was everywhere, males having full benefits for thousands of pounds and in millions and people lying in my face. The whole uk needs to be reconstructed, fit for 2022 and i have been lied constantly (on a market that is advertising on a monthly basis that has 13k job openings in architecture or construction, for 6 years now) so i have been lied and called myself a defect, or unfit without experience, the most disgusting country that o have ever seen. Never even mentioning that i have actually worked in the profession. Globally the architecture is poorly treated, it was born before the IT and still is left by far behind. IT professionals were more paid also in the same companies than myself. In romania and in the uk. One thing i have to say: corruption at high level and absolutely no respect for the work done by the architectural graduates, their families and their future!!!! Nobody there to fix the issues for centuries. Just like the dentistry, which we have in the world for 9000 years as a practice and knowledge (people started to practice dentistry or study it for 9000 years now)but people in 2022 still do not have access. If that is not an alarm for the architectural practice, than nothing!!!!

[@OLDMANTEA]

Architecture is first and foremost a service oriented profession. If you think it’s primarily technical or design orientated profession, I don’t think you can make it as an architect.

[@AbdullahalMahbub-pt4mz]

I have diploma in architecture from bangladesh can i apply in university or can i do job?

[@tomhoang7195]

I can't even imagine writing specs. That must have been very draining.

[@DamiLeeArch]

It is not the most fun thing.

[@ShootItALBY]

Honestly, it's a kiss-ass career. You gotta give help before you get help if you want to go far in this profession. Plus, it seems like the subject of AI is getting popular and more discussed every year within architecture.

[@IUSTITA]

7% of Architech students make it. Make sure you work your ass off.

[@JoannaEve]

I reckon there will be a future because the population continues to grow and the needs for that said population need to be met.

[@jim7953]

To join your group do you need to have some knowledge of the subject

[@_andisishay]

P0p0

[@thebadness6217]

AI is gonna take all of our jobs anyway. In a decade or two, someone will have a need for some building and an architect firm will just plug in the requirements and have an entire building designed down to the blueprints in 10 minutes.

[@aminaomomar3377]

architect firm ? there wont be such a thing in few more years

[@Mezman999]

99% of architecture has been done before. No real innovation so the most persuasive personalities rise to the top. Same as modern art. All smoke, mirrors and bullshit.

[@Harshhhheyyy]

Can somebody answer with yes/no

[@EvelynMLee]

In its current state - no, not in the long run - but if we evolve and add to what we do - maybe.

[@cameroncooper8618]

Your videos are great

[@lei2164]

Should I pursue a degree in Architecture?

[@downtownneonlights]

Architect of 15 years here, fully registered, got tired of the continued downward value the profession gets. Decided to give it a break and pursue landscape painting. I should have made the shift earlier.

[@asmiivarshney3380]

Lol i wanted this only 😭😭😭

[@jrshaul]

So what you're saying is that you provide wishful thinking to structural engineers. Who do the actual work.

[@emiljohnbaticula4034]

❤

[@RareVDO]

There is no future in Architecture. Only pain and disappointment Dami. The few "star" practices that seek to change this will invariably be left in the dust when A.I. takes over. Already GPT3 and DALL-E 2 are already showing creative problem solving is no longer the domain of human being. The development of AI will continue to accelerate, first it will look like it makes Architect's job easier as it takes over the more mundane task or even some elementary design tasks. Then Architectural Practices will start employing less and less people as it can leverage more and more on the AI... until one day you get the "KZbin effect" where only 1 in a million makes it while the rest are one man team with his or her AI struggling in their mom's garage. Also with the rise of "A.I. Assisted Architecture" and "Pure A.I. Evolved Architecture" it will only drive the human architects to the non-sensical extremes in order to differentiate from their A.I. competitors. That itself will be the death of architecture.

[@RareVDO]

.....And add to the current MASSIVE HOUSING CRISIS, with highest level of homeless rate in America, WHAT IS THE POINT OF ARCHITECTURE OR ARCHITECT?? It is extremely hilarious predicament. We are graduating more architects than ever and we have the highest level of homelessness and housing crisis. House prices have gone through the roofs so do construction cost. Do we throw these architects to solve the problem that should have been a policy problem? It is like throwing Professional/Michelin Star Chefs to solve the famine.

[@DamiLeeArch]

I can see AI being extremely helpful for architects, esp. for generating multiple variations of desig options but I think so much of an architect's job requires working with people and helping people understand what they want/ need, and creating beauty from human nuances that I don't think it can be replaced. Which makes me think that architects who leverage their social connections and make the best of our new tools will be the most successful in the future.

[@jrshaul]

The problem here is that computers are getting really good at understanding human needs, and you only need one architect to supervise the sofware. Most of what architects do is not far off from printed circuit board EDA - noise, distance, light, all can be parameters for an automated and iterative design function. All you need is one architect to poke the robot with a stick to make sure it doesn't do anything stupid.

[@lumii903]

But if you have your own business and your in control I think it won't be a problem

[@aiel1740]

Dami is so pleasant to look at. Gurl drop this architecture shit, go be a model

[@guanlinli6140]

well personal opinion, it’s a dying profession.

[@asmiivarshney3380]

First ig?