16 Mar AEC Professionals: Critical Challenges

It would give any professional immense pain to even look at the interrogation point raised above.

Modern times have and will soon raise questions against even the mere existence of designers. Imagine yourself standing somewhere being lost in a mirror maze. All you see is yourself with no clue of the way out. I can vouch for the fact that there are ample people of the same fraternity going clueless about their future.

Society today is not willing to pay AEC professionals, be it Architects, Interior Designers, or MEP or structural consultants of this field for their genuine and hard-worked services. The general societal mindset has changed who often look down on designers and feel that the professional’s fee is a mere additional cost for the project and these consultants are not going to play any crucial role in their project. Ironically, the lower middle and middle class look up to the designers as a luxury they can’t afford.

‘Creativity, they say, is the highest form of intelligence. And it is intelligence not easily replicated by machine’

It is a matter of fact that it is next to impossible for any artificial intelligence to compete and match with the problem-solving approach that of any creative person, often known as the right-brainer human. The base lies in their understanding and how meticulously they approach a brief. They have a very balanced tactic inherited within themselves as a big picture thinker who parallelly is capable of getting down to the smallest details and this very process cannot be swapped via a step by step made algorithm.

Although there are a handful of clients who sound meaningful when it comes to the fact that they don’t just want ‘things’ to any further extent. They are always looking forward to progression and want to give meaning and purpose to all that they do. They wish to see themselves stand differently and intend to showcase their true reflection in their space. But they often turn out to be quite similar to kindergarten teachers who make us draw by holding our hands.

At this point I recall what I read about an anonymous architect; he had one thing clearly posted on his cabin wall: I shall serve with you three things, two you chose, one I will. The things were Time, Quality, and Cost. Nothing made more sense to me than acknowledging this.

With the growing number of people turning to developers, making a quick profit is everyone’s bull’s eye. This is prosing another level of challenge for the design industry that is actualized by high quality over speed and cost. Whereas, the market demands high speed and low cost over good design and quality.

Thus, AEC professionals must establish more influential means to exemplify how good and well-worked design and services can add real value to the built for its clients, in most cases the sole residents, both monetarily and in terms of ‘resolved’ quality of life.

I wonder if anyone reading this would agree to the gush, considering AEC professionals from all generations and experience levels should knuckle down to lessen the age gap and learn from each other. Regardless of whether you are a student with tight pockets or the head of a firm hoping to improve the general profitability of the organization, keeping up with the evolution of software is very important. With progressions being made at a remarkable rate, it is furthermore critical to upgrade oneself or danger the being left behind in the market will always keep hanging overheads like the sword of Damocles. Thus, education isn’t a one-time phase. It is an activity that one must constantly pursue but the lack of resources, finances, and time crunch does not allow it.

Customers and clients, who might never argue or negotiate with their primary care physicians about their fees, or instruct them how to do a medical procedure, feel clever and gifted enough to give design decisions as they feel architects are merely needed to clear up things lawfully. This financial crunch goes down to the lower segment where the employees and draftsmen remain underpaid leading to the least monetary security and the vicious cycle goes on.

It is fair to say that the culture of competitiveness and perfectionism within the profession leads many architects to collapse. But don’t judge yourself as a failure too soon. After all, there is a lot of blood, sweat, and tears between dreams and success.