Architects, what's the point?

Ok so Architects are a necessary evil. Most people that have had to use them would probably agree. But when dealing with tradesmen that have to work with Architects you will probably find that most times the Architect should just stick with the initial designs and leave the nitty gritty to the tradesmen.

I think personally they are just glorified draftsmen. Yeh they know how to design a house or building, so does a draftsmen, but they can do it with a little bit more of a flourish for design and look.

That is where it should end.

Nearly every single project I personally have worked on that has had Architects specify it, there have been issues that the Architect have no idea how to deal with.

Being in the cabinet making industry I deal with alot of specialized products and hardware. Most times I can foresee an issue that is designed before starting to manufacture and deal with it then. But every now and then there is something that the Architect wants to do that is either just plain stupid or not possible. Sometimes I think they do not look at their ideas from all angles to see whether they are either possible or practical.

To make the matters worse, they cost an arm and a leg to the client and then the client feels that the Architect should be involved in every decision because of this outlaid expense.

So in all that, if you really have to use an Architect, I suggest get them to just do the look and design and leave the actual manufacturing and installation decisions to the tradesmen that do it every single day.

Faz out