The Architect Rises | Will Architects disappear or reinvent themselves?

[@gavranarh]

An interesting video as always and the subject matter is very topical. Architectural profession *is* dying. This is a reality which stems from a broader reality - the fact that the field of architecture competes for the same finite pool of intelligence and talent which is siphoned off to programing, related fields like design of virtual space, video game and film design, etc.etc. There is less and less talent in architecture because there is less and less importance in the built, material world. The traditional underpinnings for architecture and urbanism are evaporating: with google maps it's not really important that the urban landscape be legible because you have the tools to guide you through any maze; it's not important that your physical headquarters be all that impressive when 99% of your customers will interface with your business through your website and social media. It’s not important that the infrastructure is efficient and beautiful because you do everything remotely and don’t transverse space as much. Furthermore, architecture in practice is hierarchical and as a percentage, few get to taste the high-stakes decision-making role in their whole career, which is a further disincentive for any creative, individualistic person - it’s much more appealing to code a small app and cross your fingers it’s the next Facebook. "Capital A" Architecture will become like equestrianism - a specialty niche for the comparatively wealthy and the enthusiasts while the overwhelming majority will inhabit and experience generic environments that technically fall under the purview of architecture but are in fact about as related to it as McDonald's is to high cuisine. Now, because the world population is migrating to cities, the needs are growing and the absolute demand is also rising, but in relative terms Architecture is withering and will continue to do so IMO. We are ferries and fountain-pen repairmen, ladies and gentlemen. The positive thing is for a person of talent, grit and hustle is that there is less competition *because* there is less talent in the filed. There are fewer persons of talent between you and the level for which you’re gunning, so it’s easier to stand out in the sea of mediocrity, unless that is, you yourself are the mediocrity. Regarding the future of architecture, the game is and probably always will be the same in the abstract, while in practice the turbulence in the field is proportionate to position on the architectural pecking order. If you're a draftsman or other low level contributor to the process (in terms of bringing value to the end result and decision-making power), you're constantly under pressure to follow the relentless pace of technology because if you fall behind on the latest thing, the competition will eat your lunch. If you are mid-level architect, a good deal of your value is in organization, people skills and technical expertise, so you can get away with a less up-to-date digital skill set if you're still effective. For the top of the food chain architects, however, it matters little what the very latest technology does because you don't bring value to the project through that medium. Your domain is the domain of ideas, understanding clients, their needs, trends, economics. The architect of that rank uses only what he/she needs to capture and develop the idea internally and effectively communicate it down the chain of command to be executed - a pencil and a paper pad is usually quite enough. Norman Foster need never touch a computer mouse in his life, not more than an orchestra conductor need personally diddle the tuba. Where things get particularly interesting, though, are in one-man-band practices where a single person embodies all the roles simultaneously and has to jump through *all the hoops* in the field to stay competitive and ensure one's survival. This is harder and harder to do and it's not unlikely that sometime in the future it becomes completely untenable. Where we should turn to regain our power and importance (what remains of it), where we bring the value to society is not in our technical proficiency or our knowledge of tools and means of production: it’s in the quality of our ideas. If you are a low / mid level architect, you absolutely have to concern yourself with these things to remain competitive and survive. But the thought that the architectural field will keep it’s legitimacy if only we collectively had better knowledge of tools and means of production is misguided: this will only result in faster and more efficient overproduction of garbage and the decrease in prices and, consequently, our reputation and importance. Whatever the latest technology is, people who invested their time in attaining those skills will be the neo-cadmokeys, and they have spent their time towards that end and not other ends. That’s why, in the long term, you don't want to be one those people because the ground is always shifting below your feet- you want to be the person who hires those people. We are increasingly irrelevant *because* we diddle around a bit much with digital tools and allow them to guide our hand in design, because we present those superfluities to the client as something substantive while it’s superficial and empty. We’re sleeping at the wheel on the matter of actual importance - imagining the future for people and a better environment, a better way of life. Who has our field produced since Victor Gruen that is of comparable importance and vision to every man, woman and child, which architect has shaped the way we live as much since? The source of authority and importance for architects and architecture lies in the direction opposite to vocational proficiency in the latest tools. There may come a time when all the parameters of architecture are decided pre-optimized by bean-counters and technocrats or sophisticated algorithms, because in truth they *are* more qualified to make those decisions. Our role, if we can cling on to it, will still be to give shape to those needs, to provide a vision and synthesize clarity that lifts up the human spirit and leaves testimony who and what we were in our time and what we strived for. But I’m afraid the testimony we’re currently writing in space, for the most part, isn’t all that flattering.

[@epaglimited2879]

Your vision for architect beyond 2022 is spot-on... Someone (fintech) in Africa is working on an architectural metaverse marketplace with real-world output (tangible buildings)... It would be interesting to see the repositioning of roles & responsibilities of professionals (achitects, civil/mechanical/electrical engineers', Quantity Suveyors', contractors' etc) in the proposed building & construction metaverse without geographical boundaries.... Andrew M. K. Chege Nairobi - Kenya

[@iyellalot]

On path 3 currently, you inspired me. Awesome video, thanks for uploading

[@bewater4732]

I just discovered your channel today and am now binge watching every video.. You're a modern day Architectural Messiah !

[@gesangherzan5526]

Wow, your thoughts are amazing... awesome content!

[@foxy2348]

Wow, i know nothing of architechture but you are A GREAT STORY Teller! really intersing, great content!

[@aleks8556]

Afaik, there actually are architects working in the videogame industry like in assassins creed. A city was built by an architecture office.

[@IllevensKO]

Hi, I see this is a new and growing channel so I figured you might like some feedback - I am a software developer, have nothing to do with architecture (except admiration of course) and am watching videos like this when procrastinating :) Being a middle class eastern-european kid, I had the very same image of architects as interesting people to be friends with put together in my head - first due to some friends of the family being architects and nice, then due to me realizing most other working people are way too allistic; and now that image is reinforced again because y'all are among the few people in the world tasked with needing to exercise truly creative engineering (at least in theory), and that visionary state is, to me, is the most important thing in life and other people. And yes, unless you are a higher-up software developer, you also don't do any design per-se, so I am tasked with serving someone's creative visions for a long time. Nevertheless the more important feedback is closer to the topic of the video - it sounds incredibly weird to me that you think architects could learn software development, since even software developers can't always learn software development :) both fields are so enormously large and broad, it takes a genius-level epistemic complexity management brain to be able to be both. I guess you could say that architects could do away with just basics of python, but how much would that benefit their career in reality ?

[@DoggieB92]

For architects, it is better to have a broad knowledge about the algorithms and their impact on design systems instead of learning lots of languages/back-end. Geometric programming is vastly different from database management

[@IllevensKO]

@@DoggieB92 of course but it takes 2 years of CS education to even being able to write or understand the simple ones... and the geometrical ones are waaaay complex

[@wapo_t]

Thanks, great video.

[@williambustos2132]

I don't think we can convince the industry to use 3d models entirely until the baby boomers retire. Many older architects don't want to learn BIM let alone coding or gaming software. People need to pass on the torch to future generations.

[@knuttlaarsen7218]

Don't know how I bumped onto this. All in all Awesome content 🥇. I also watched those similar from MStarTutorials and kinda wonder how you guys make these clips. MStar Tutorials also had cool info about similiar things on his channel.