We all seem to agree that the percieved value of architectural services is crucial to our success. (i.e. We know we bring essential skills to a project, but we lament that not everyone else has the same understanding.) How do you (or your firm) market and advocate for the value of your services? Do specialization and/or technology come into play? How much of your energy is spent on expounding your own firms’ value as opposed to the value of architectural design in general?
Obviously, our profession understands the value we bring to our clients, but does the public see that value, or just a necessity to get a building built by stamping drawings. Did we bring this on ourselves, our profession came from the master builders, who took the project from conception to completion, now we constantly try to limit our liability and in the process lost some of the perception of value to the public. Since the public does not see the design value we bring to the table we are constantly requested to lower our fees, which we constantly do, which then reiterates the perception of our lowered value.
ReplyDeleteThere is constant talk about correcting this by not compromising our design stance or lowering our fees, however in today's economic climate, there is always someone willing to lower their fees to get the job for the firm to stay "alive". Therefore, the only way of changing the public's perception of our value is advocating or promoting for the profession. Ways to do this is promote value we bring to the table that others do not either with sustainability, saving on life cycle cost, thinking outside the box and bringing new ideas to the table not this is the way its been done for the last 50 years so this is the best way to do it. All of these things and others can advocate for our profession and help change the public perception of the value Architects bring.
I do believe that we need to constantly be on the lookout for how our profession can better evolve to "prove" our relevance, however, I think that education and just being in the public eye (for good) can and will work wonders. How many people really have a clue what we do and how our years of study and work can be relevant to their project? I'll go one step further: How many people think of someone who creates space when they hear the word "Architect" rather than an IT professional? Answer: Not many! Those that do think of buildings when they hear the "A-word" uttered generally either think of some time long gone by where architects produced things like the Chrysler Building or Falling Water or they think of some law suit that may have been in the news where the architect was named in some capacity or another or when Frank Ghery makes a cameo on the Simpsons.
ReplyDeleteWhat I am getting at is that we truly need to get out there and let people know what we do and how it can help them. We need to be the ones on the news showing off a charity event that we have spear-headed. We need to be the ones that find ourselves with a booth (as unglamorous as that sounds) at a Home Builders show. We need to find a way to get the beautiful work that we all do (and the benefits of this work to the clients) beamed into every household. Instead, when we see architecture on television, it is either on HGTV or Extreme Home Makeover that tend to show that you can renovate your home either in 3 days or by yourself. The other occasion that we see architecture on television is when you hear that a company was planning on building a building that was going to put thousands of people to work but alas, that architect designed a building that went 5 million over budget and now the company is debating whether to try and find the money or move to another city.
We all, no doubt, sit in meetings and are dictated to about WHAT will be in a project and HOW it will be in the project. While listening is definitely something that we do need to do a better job of, we don't do a great job of coming back to them with here is what you asked for and here is a way that I think, if I understood you correctly, your environment can better accomplish what you are trying to do and be an exciting place to live, work, or whatever you do. Sometimes this will work, sometimes it won't but it WILL let them know that we are "on their side", help to build that relationship, and get them thinking about their environment a little more.
I also think that what Zoe and others have been doing with Architecture by Children as well as Christie's story of talking to the second grade class is a great start. Teaching children about what we do at an early age, the benefits of it, the rigors of it will raise the awareness of our profession and the benefits that we bring to the table not only for the generations to come, but also for their parents. We really have to show that architecture something that is fun and can help daily life in many ways. This will help to raise the awareness but also bring back a respect for the profession as a whole.
Essentially, yes, we do have to always be on the lookout for what is next and how our profession can evolve with the times, but more than anything we just need to be better about communicating what we already do.