About The AIAAbout The AIA

During the week of April 16, 2012, Jane Kolleeny, AIA consultant to the repositioning initiative, interviewed 7 Grass Roots attendees and others about the AIA’s repositioning initiative.

The following key observations were documented during those meetings.

• Architects interviewed continue to feel their role is not understood and is more vast and important than they are given credit for. They continue to remark about the commodification of architecture as a product rather than an essential service with vast problem-solving applicability. They feel the constant quibbling over fees undermines the value proposition of architecture.
• Architects continue to find the public’s perception of them to be limited to expensive, artsy white guys with funny glasses. One architect suggested that one reason the public doesn’t understand architecture is that few use architects in their lifetimes—unlike doctors or attorneys, a private client may use an architect once in their lifetime, if ever, and thus their invisibility makes some sense. Also it’s a complex profession to understand and its value is often hidden, in the same way that buildings are taken for granted and invisible in many ways to the people who use them.
• AIA continues to be seen among interviewees to inspire authoritative, professional images, one that is stiff and old fashioned. AIA is frequently lauded for its advocacy activities on behalf of the profession. The knowledge communities continue to be applauded as a strong and effective resource within the AIA. Peer group engagement, leadership training, business and marketing skills that AIA exposes members to are all values that AIA provides to architects. Still many interviewees feel AIA tries to do too much, diluting its message.
• Architects continue to agree that the profession is and will continue to lose a generation of emerging architects due to the economy and other factors including the extremely long and expensive path to licensure. Yet young professionals continue to remark about the great networking, business, and leadership training opportunities provided through their AIA associations, especially when active on committees as volunteers.
• Architects continue to feel the architecture schools do not prepare students adequately for entering the business world and there continues to be a divergence of opinion about whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing; most interviewees think it’s a bad thing.
• Some architects find tremendous value in what AIA offers, whereas others do not. One architect felt the value of design is not held with enough esteem by AIA or the profession. One architect felt the most valuable resource from AIA is the design awards—other than that combined with good lectures at the local chapter from time to time, AIA is nonessential. But because the design awards continue to be valuable to design-oriented professionals, they reluctantly continue their membership.
• One architect felt component staff should be design professionals, that having executive directors who don’t understand design creates a bad public face for the profession.
• One architect felt the problem with architects not being recognized in the culture is that young children are not educated or exposed to the value of design in their environment (as they are in Europe).
• Poor communication skills continues to be mentioned as a trait among architects. Collaboration was also mentioned as a lacking skill.
• With respect to the question of architects losing ground to other consultants on the team, BIM and integrated project delivery (IPD) continue to be suggested as devices to assure the value of architects as the leaders of the pack.

Learn more about the AIA’s repositioning initiative at www.aia.org/repositioning.