The current focus of every aspect of pop culture is the celebrity. We see this in the music industry, the film industry and lately architecture. This attitude although propelled mainly by the media, is helped greatly by the many award programs established in each field, working to further encourage the notion of being the "best" in one's industry. The result is a shift of attention from the product itselft to who designed it. In architecture, there is a growing emphasis on who the architect is rather than important issues such as program and/or functionality.

Today's sought-after architects tend to be individual stars, designing high-profile projects as linchpins for cultural or leisure-time development schemes. Their works do not produce any real consensus among thoughtful architects, the kind of consensus that then might influence the broader building culture.

Schwartzer, Mitchell. "The Spectacle of Ordinary Building" Harvard Design Magazine Fall 2000

2.Lack of Social responsibility
Architecture can help implement social change. After all, architecture is foremost, a social activity. It seems, however, in our current societal situation, architects have forgotten their responsibilities to the their communities. As professionals, architects have a duty to serve the public. We need to remember this and find a way to help make a difference.

As individuals, most American architects sincerely assert that they are deeply concerned about issues of social and economic justice. Yet, over the past twenty years, as a profession they have steadily moved away from engagement with any social issues, even those that fall within their realm of professional competence, such as homelessness, the growing crisis in affordable and appropriate housing, the loss of environmental quality, and the challenge posed by traffic-choked, increasingly unmanageable urban areas.

Out of Site: 27

3.Changing role of the Architect in the construction process
The architect was once at the top of the chain of command in construction. Today, although still a key player, the architect has lost some of her influence in the industry.

Once upon a time, long ago (which is to say, until sometime in the 1970s), the practice of design was a subtractive process, in which the architect was in charge of the whole ball of wax, peeling off pieces to give to consultants and contractors. Now it is additive, and the architect's role is only one of many small bits assembled along the way by any number of construction coordinators.

Padjen, Elizabeth, "The Shaping of Architectural Practice" from: Saunders, William S. Reflections on Architectural Practices in the Nineties: 27

4.The architectural culture
As architects, the culture is acquired in the studio environment. What is learnt is to value design at all costs, a reality not supported in practice where design accounts for only 10% of the work an architect does. A conflicting reality is being presented to students who are disappointed when they enter the professional world to a career they had not anticipated. We need to teach students early on of the importance other facets play in an architectural career.

Alas, many who emerge from school find a marketplace that is not at all what they expected it to be. Their status is low, their chances of designing something satisfying are slim, and their earnings stand scant prospect of being commensurate with the length of their training.

Saint, Andrew, "Architecture as Image: Can We Rein in this New Beast?" from: Saunders, William S. Reflections on Architectural Practices in the Nineties: 17

5.Close links to the economy and economic uncertainty
With the arrival of the economic recession in the early 1990?s, the construction industry came to a near halt. Though other professionals stayed afloat, architects were dismissed in massive quantities, causing a feeling of job insecurity amongst professionals who feel they are the first to be let go in any economic uncertainty.

"Nobody feels permanent," he says. "There's a lot of disillusionment." The big question that Clark says he and others ask themselves is: "How can we become indispensable?"

Langdon, Phillip. "Faces of a Downsized Profession" Progressive Architecture June 1995: 79

6.Professionals?
Although considered professionals, architects are amid the lowest paid in the category and are not considered necessary for all construction projects. If one's salary is often a good indicator of his value to society as a whole, what then is the value of an architect? How can we re-educate the public about our worth and necessity in the industry?

Comparative average annual salaries for various professions (1995 figures)
ProfessionAnnual Salary
Physicians$74,000
Dentists$73,300
Lawyers$59,400
Chiropractors$57,600
Psychologists$53,600
Pharmacists$49,200
Civil Engineers$47,700
Architects$45,500
Teachers$43,600
Social Workers$40,100

From Human Resources Development Corporation's Job Future program
Polo, Marco "Practice: Small Change" Canadian Architect November 1999: 38

7.Marketing/Education
Ask any student or professor at the school of Architecture what an architect does and all would come up with a long list relating to design, planning, costing, scheduling and construction of buildings. However, ask someone on the street what an architect does and the answers will be different: unclear, short, and mostly related to design issues only. There is a strong need to educate the public about architecture and architects. We need to market the profession and remind people how an architect can help realize and simplify their project. Good design equals good business.

8.The Design Build –new players in construction industry
The increase of project managers and the design build industry creates an even smaller demand and/or responsibility for the architect in the construction process. These entities are making it even harder for architects to prove their worth to a public looking for a product for the lowest price. How can we educate about the knowledge and skills an architect can bring to a job, skills those other tradesmen will not have?

The ground on which building professionals do pose a challenge to architects is in taking over functions of management and supervision before, during, and following construction, functions that architects often have defined as their responsibility. In so doing, the building professionals inevitably diminish the total volume of work for architects compared to what it would be otherwise.

From Gutman, Robert Architectural Practice: A Critical View: 67

9.Renovations/Restorations
In architectural school one is taught to think of a renovation as a job she would take to make extra money. However, much of the architectural work done in North America is related to renovation or restoration. With such an enormous existing infrastructure, it is important to promote the importance and prestige that can be associated with renovation and/or restoration projects.

10.Architecture accessible only to the wealthy
Unfortunately, for many, architecture is synonymous with wealth, considered a luxury they can't afford. We need to encourage architecture in all levels of society, especially the lower end. How can architects gain the professional status of doctors? Why are architects so quickly forgotten in so many construction projects?

Compared, say to physicians or lawyers, architects are in a weaker position to generate demand for their services. They have nowhere near the authority over the building industry that physicians enjoy in the medical care system; and they do not have as much influence over building rules and decisions as lawyers can exert through the courts and the legislative system. ..Perhaps the absence of measures by architects to restrict enrollment and the limited control they are able to impose on forces influencing the demand for services, are connected events.

From Gutman, Robert Architectural Practice: A Critical View: 98