The thinktank Building Futures has published a report, “The Future for Architects?”, that questions where the industry will be in 2025.
The report projects that architects practices as they are today will soon be a thing of the past, as design professionals have to adapt to new roles in the market.
The architect’s role has been “invaded,” reported a number of those questioned, by other professions that are learning the once exclusive expertise required for many specialised tasks.
“Architects have shed project management, contract administration and cost,” said one contributor, “And ultimately, if they lose design coordination then you have to ask what they are there for.”
The report has forecast that the profession will change considerably in the next 15 years, and that people trained in architecture will have to expand their role to resemble what is now considered consultancy.
Building Futures did not, however, see architecture as a dying art, but rather as a field that must redefine itself. One optimistic architect noted:
“The architect’s role shouldn’t be seen as a threat but as a natural change that can be exploited - we must find our own new opportunities and education should shift to accommodate that.”