Home ‹ Projects ‹ Advocacy

The Amateur and the Professional

Introduction

Changes in society are changing architecture. The professions are in crisis, the trust in titles has diminished and the legitimacy of the professional authority is questionable. This essay looks at ways to regain legitimacy and trust whilst enabling the architect to provide the services the public need.

Amateur Power

Demos report

The think-tank Demos has published a report that analyses the behaviour and successes of what they call Pro-Ams or Professional Amateurs. People who live for their hobbies and have skill levels approaching those of professionals. Leadbeater and Miller (2004, p.67) suggest that.

“The crude, all or nothing, categories we use to carve up society – leisure versus work, professional versus amateur – will need to be rethought. The Pro-Ams will bring new forms of organisation into life, which are collaborative, networked, light on structure and largely self-regulating

Professionals – in science and medicine, war and politics, education and welfare – shaped the twentieth century through their knowledge, authority and institutions. They will still be vital in the twenty-first century. But the new driving force, creating new streams of knowledge, new kinds of organisations, new sources of authority, will be the Pro-Ams.â€

The report argues that it will be vital for professionals to collaborate with and learn from the Pro-Ams who freed from institutions and codes use methods more appropriate for the twenty-first century.

Methods of the Pro-Am

Key to the success of the Pro-Am is that they are not in competition with each other. Since their main income is not at stake they are able to share information freely. This relaxed attitude creates a very successful environment where people can contribute at the maximum of their ability. Their relative independence from financiers enables them to explore and develop ideas even where there seems to be no financial reward. They use technology to organise and manage their activities. Hierarchies if they exist are extremely flat, flexible and based on merit.

Achievements of the Pro-Am

“Pro-Ams can achieve things that until recently only large, professional organisations could achieve.â€

(Leadbeater, C., Miller P., 2004. p.12)

The report lists a number of achievements to make the case for the Pro-Am revolution. Their influence has been particularly strong in what might be referred to as ‘nerdy’ fields such as astronomy and software programming. Their impact on architecture is likely to be less direct as there is a limited hobby interest in architecture. On the other hand there is an enormous interest in conservation and DIY both with indirect implications on architecture.

The examples put forward range from the innovative grassroots banking systems in Bangladesh called ‘Grameen Bank’ which lent US$4 billion to people normal banks considered unprofitable. Charities run from garages managing to collect 24 million signatures (Jubilee 2000) and open-source software projects such as the Apache project running on half of the worlds web servers.

Advances in technology

Information management

As ICT is maturing small, mainly non-technical, improvements to software and hardware is having a large impact on the accessibility and capacity of technology. Many of the inventions are coming from non-business oriented software that people use for their own pleasure. These inventions and modifications have potential in business applications as they are intuitive, easy to use and mainly communications oriented. Many are cheap or free but enable small organisations or individuals to manage complicated information and communicate two-way at the scale of mass media.

Examples with low economic and technical threshold

Technology such as RSS is a simple document format similar to html and is mainly used by news sites and Blogs (web logs) to automatically broadcast snippets of information summarising updates on the site. The radical aspect of it is that it allows information to be broadcasted in a human- and machine-readable format by perfect amateurs. By gathering a number of RSS streams in a software called an Aggregator one can create something similar to a internet spreadsheet where all cells are ‘live’ and collecting up to date data from their source. This technology is used by the least technologically proficient of internet-publishers the bloggers and has user-friendly interfaces and mechanisms. It is commonly used to broadcast tedious details about daily life but has much greater potential for the sharing of data that can be computed.

The digital camera and camera-phone speeds up processes of surveying and recording visual data. With services such as Flickr.org photographs and text can be published on your website directly from you mobile phone enabling many people to access the information instantly and for free.

There are community information gathering and evaluating services such as del.icio.us where information is clustered connected commented and evaluated by any number of interested individuals. Topics will grow links to other topics and indeed individuals through the interest of the active members. The effect is that you have access to a highly efficient information filter. The downside is that for the information to be shared and evaluated it has to be available online.

Instant reviews and ratings

It is becoming increasingly easy to instantly rate services and products. Systems such as the rating in Ebay where sellers are rated on the quality of the sold items, the speed of delivery, packaging and so on could become much more common and they are in no way tied to virtual transactions. This kind of hyper meritocracy could prove very difficult for architects and indeed any professional but if all voices are heard from clients, users, contractors to the public a fair picture would emerge. Post occupancy evaluation would be a continuous stream of complaints and praise always publicly available both in the form of personal comments and precise structured data. There are extreme forms of rating already available where people publicly rate their ex-partners.

Information overload

Comments like ICT will “swamp us with a cascade of uncontrolled information that is difficult to filter.†(Landry, C., 2004) are common and there seems to be a sense of information overload. Whether this is a problem of human capacity or a matter of familiarity with the new environment is difficult to tell. One could ask the question of whether sifting though 100 emails and 50 jpg’s whilst talking on the phone is inherently more demanding than running through a thick forest with a spear whilst communication with your fellow hunters and registering all plants around you and their potential use back in the cave. Frustration with the slow and unintuitive technical processes required to share, connect and evaluate information and the conventions of businesses and institutions are in my opinion more likely to be the problem.

Culture

Authenticity re-valued

â€The search for the authentic has become pervasive as our sense of the ‘real’ or the local is dislocated by virtual or constructed worlds such as those of cyberspace, theme parks or standardised, global mass products with little link to a particular location.â€

(Landry, C., 2004. p.29)

Travel supplements and morning television all use authentic as the ultimate praise. Those more deeply involved in culture find the authentic less often and correspondingly praise it even more. It could be possible for architecture to take advantage of the craving for the authentic but as previously mentioned what constitutes the authentic is highly personal and varied. One could argue that the generic B&Q shed is more authentic than self-conscious bespoke architecture.

Life style

Thanks to the lack of housing in Britain most people seem to accept not being able to choose a home that reflects their identity and aspirations to any greater extent. The exception is the demand for home ownership, Blair and Prescott today (24 Jan. 2005) announced a scheme for cheap housing especially designed to help first time buyers onto the property ladder. In the tv report there was footage of small semidetached house-builder style houses that in spite of being one family and semidetached were built in what appear to be cavity-wall construction. This type of home gobbles up land, is inefficient and unsustainable by typology but is apparently still supported by government. The political thinking behind it, whether it is pure vote fishing, an attempt to tie people closer to the financial system, or just an ill considered move, is worrying. Wanting a single family home is understandable but for the government to push this development without concern for sustainability seems irresponsible.

Buildings

Real estate markets

Post 911 security issues, the logic of outsourcing, employee demands and new organisational structures are pushing businesses towards new ways of managing and acquiring space. Businesses are nervous about iconic head offices and their appeal as targets for both terrorists and protesters. Outsourcing can spread into real estate as companies are reluctant to be responsible for anything but their core functions. The increased employee power in the knowledge sector due to shortage will put pressure behind demands of flexible workplaces and working methods. Grantham and Ware (May 2004. p.26) draws the conclusion that. “Organizations will need comprehensive real estate strategies of placeâ€. Rather than acquiring single buildings they suggest organisations need to stretch themselves across cities to find space for their employees that suit their individual preferences in terms of location and lifestyle. At the best a business interwoven in the city at worst a series of gated, close fit and well serviced enclaves.

Sustainability

The media seems to be building up further pressure towards sustainability. There are now reports about devastating developments in the environment every other day. Unfortunately much of the efforts from architects are half-measures at best. The submission to box ticking by Breem example is a terrible mistake. Points for improving the ecosystem by using a green roof! Since when can any British ecology thrive on Sedum. The system is set up to be abused, but baby steps are better than standing still.

Architecture

Losing power

Comments about the terrible state of things are inevitable when the profession is mentioned in conversation with an architect. A glorious past where the architect, judging by the comments, was omnipotent, trusted and skilled have slipped away and the architect of today is left in a situation where she because of her slim powers is unable to produce decent architecture. The objective stance of previous generations of architects, with their great responsibilities towards the public good, is impossible to hold as the architect is forced into a dependent relationship with an unscrupulous client who has taken away all positive control and responsibility.

The architect still thinks she deserves to be trusted and that she, because of her professional status, should be considered and treated special. The code of conduct and self-regulation separates the professional from the average businessman.

â€1.6 Members should not offer or take bribes in connection with their professional work.†(RIBA code 2005 p.4)

“…from a purely market perspective, a profession can appear to be nothing more than a cartel†(Davies and Knell 2003 p.18)

The latter quote from Davies and Knell suggests that a rather extreme market viewpoint has to be taken to see a profession as a cartel. It is cited from ‘The professionals choice’ a document about and for building professionals. The document sets out to critically examine future roles of the building professionals though a number of scenarios written by different authors. The document puts forward some interesting ideas but fails to come to the really critical conclusions. When they get close all authors avoid the critical conclusion and end up with a softer more comforting one. They cannot say that the institution has reached its limits and is unlikely to ever be more than a club. This inability to even in the most dystopic scenarios predict the abandonment of the professional system is a strong argument against its continued importance or even survival.

Information sharing as reputation management

“It is surely hopeless for professional associations to attempt to privatise their information resources, but distributing free intellectual property on the web is an important means of reputation management.†(Davies and Knell 2003 p.30)

The lessons learned from the Pro-Ams (Leadbeater and Miller 2004) suggest the same tactics. Trust and recognition has to be built and maintained it would be a big mistake to believe that monopolizing knowledge can improve the status of the professions. Skills and judgement not knowledge can set the professional apart. By sharing information the professional could harness the resources of the Pro-Ams to their own and the publics advantage. There is of course a price to be paid when letting the public into the design process.

Creating platforms for knowledge sharing and discussion

The traditional public consultation with its beginning and end is an effective way for the architect to focus input to a convenient time. Extending this to an ongoing and public discussion facilitated by technology and face-to-face would complicate things but transparency might help the architects who deserve it. Exposing the pressures and mechanism of the construction industry would certainly work to the advantage of the public. To trust or not to trust the architect would no longer be an issue as the evidence of her loyalties would be available.

There is a danger of a future of pale, committee-designed buildings that take months to procure but architects have to choose whether they prefer public accountability through transparency or managerial targets and box ticking.

“Managerialism attempts to build trust by nailing down guarantees and finding hard proof of competence. A narrow sense of accountability is achieved, but the public responsibility of professions is threatened, and if anything, trust becomes crowded out by cynicism. “ (Davies and Knell 2003 p.27)

How elitist and undemocratic the views of the architecture profession are will become apparent. The profession would benefit from more internal sharing and transparency. Access to the detailed evaluation of other architect’s projects could vastly improve the quality of the built environment. According to the logic of the Pro-Am the boost in reputation created by sharing your best ideas will guarantee your status, enhance your brand and is likely lead to more commissions. Obviously these mechanisms are already in place through magazines and awards but they cover little ground, the information is rarely available in digital form and they take little account of external input.

In reality most practices do not have the skills or resources to implement these information strategies. Most architects use their website as a one-way non informational piece of advertising. Even the current students of architecture have slight understanding of communications technology and their social potential but the two trajectories of ITC skills and software improvements seems set to cross and allow for more widespread and advanced use.

Self interest

Professionalism is an elitist culture. It is built into the system that the professional knows what is best for people even when they disagree. The society no longer simply accepts authority but demands more and more proof of legitimacy. The solution in politics appear to be disinformation and spin. The same tactics are used by private interests. Whether denial, the repetition of careful frases and smokescreens can work on the small scale of the professional is doubtful. If it works it is only likely to be on the public not business or government.

“Where other professions (like accountancy or law) allow regulation and policy to steer them towards the public interest, those who enter the professions of the construction industry generally do so in order to shape the built environment for the better.†(Davies and Knell 2004 p.26)

This assumption, true as it may be, seems to have led to a weaker professional institution with weak regulation and code of conduct failing to raise the status of the profession. But architects are also more vulnerable in today’s society because they create culture. With the rise of individualism people have become very sensitive to cultural expression. People are less likely to accept being told what is good taste. Coupled with the difficulties of putting a value on design and the consequent pressure from financiers there might be some grounds for the complaints heard from architects.

Inflation

There has been an inflation of education and titles. A long time ago working in an office was rather special, most people had dirtier jobs. Now office work has slid into the telemarketing hole and architects and engineers have routine jobs. Institutions can choose to continue in the trodden path and face members with less power and more routine jobs. Or radically change in a way that allows them hang on to their relative status.

The dynamics of a professional institution makes it unlikely to abandon its old members and radically change beyond recognition. It is more likely to slowly sink until it is only one of the steppingstones for those who make things that matter. This is not such a bad thing as long as someone, regardless of title, takes the ideas behind the professional concept to the next level.

“The idea of the ‘professions’ was developed in the 19th century to achieve a simple purpose – to make a high-quality and consistent service generally available to the public.†(Foxell, S., 2004)

Education

“… there is evidence to suggest that many top graduates are looking beyond structured, professional work, towards more creative or entrepreneurial or informal work. Meanwhile, many industries are creating large numbers of jobs which require fairly sophisticated skills but to be exercised in a routine manner.†(Davies and Knell 2004 p.29)

Architectural education is rarely streamlined to the demands of architectural offices. The academic and the professional are in rather stark contrast and the focus of the different schools of architecture vary greatly. It is a risky career to start when what you learn during five years plus of education is extremely intangible. Memorised knowledge is almost nonexistent. The two important professions in Law and Medicine qualify with an enormous amount of memorized information in combination with other skills. The analysis by Demos and many other think-tanks and authors emphasize the change in society that has made knowledge more readily available and less valuable. The life and death decisions of the two memorizing professions ensure their status but their emphasis on knowledge might limit their role in affecting change. The controversial and high-risk choice to allow architects to be educated without emphasizing knowledge but frivolous visually presented thought experiments could actually be the right decision.

“The gradual shift of OMA’s focus, from the strictly architectural issues to the status of Universal as a company triggered the realization that this kind of thinking was, in the end, at least – if not more – important than the work done on the buildings itself(…) those issues that had informed the eventual design of the building could(…) find more effective solutions in other, faster or more flexible media; in the virtual age, architectural thinking was a resource that could be more generally applied in numerous situations.†(Wood, D., Content, 2004)

Architecture as it is currently being taught (if one can find a common thread) is quite well adapted to what society is becoming. Maybe more emphasis could be placed on managing mass two-way communication and persuading people to contribute to whatever project they are working on.

Working practice

The arguments put forward advocate an orientation in the practice of architecture where the idea of a privileged profession is abandoned even if the titles remain as approximate labels. In all, the new position is rather uncomfortable for the architect. Rather that being legitimised by a title the architect must legitimise her position through transparency. It does not suggest that buildings should be voted into being or that the opinions of individuals must be acted upon.

The involvement of, if not competition from, highly skilled amateurs will make it more difficult for the architect to go about their business undisturbed. The impact of the conservation movement and DIY is likely to have long-term effects. An atmosphere of working less or making a reverse career move to free up time can release more informed, concerned and involved individuals to interfere with the interest of the architect. Quality of life is what drives the small but noticeable trend towards downshifting. The idea of quality of life certainly involves the environment and if architects can prove their abilities this trend should offer opportunities.

Ebay style rating may become another annoyance. The scope and depth of critique is likely to be limited. Without opening up and providing platforms for discussion the architect will loose control and will not be able to make herself understood. If transparency is embraced and contributions are encouraged the architect could use public opinion to her advantage in conflicts over the quality of space or quality of construction. By becoming more proficient in ICT and learn some lessons from the Pro-Am communities the management of this new area of practice should not become to taxing.

If Grantham and Wares (20th May, 2003. p.26) suggestions in Journal of Facilities Management, that organisations need to provide much more complex and mixed use places to work including placed of public character and spaces shared with other organisations, are accurate the methods outlined above will be useful in developing the brief. With employees being the main asset of organisations finding out what they want out of their facilities will become increasingly important. This type of job is often done by more general creative agencies of the AMO or Ideo type who are able to work with both physical and organisational structures. The architectural education is very well suited for these problems but the rigidity of the profession is not helping architects to step into this area of work.