Gerard Reinmuth, Director, TERROIR, and Professor of Practice, School of Architecture, UTS writes for The Conversation:
The “future” is something which manifests nowhere more potently than in our cities.
Yet a substantial transformation over the past twenty years in the way cities are being made – both in terms of their economy and finance but also the managerial approach to city making which accompanies this economic context – has drastically altered the context for architects and challenge the way that the profession itself is currently constructed.
Smaller boutique practices are being eaten away by larger conglomerates from one direction, and nimble single-skill consultancies on the other.
In the making of cities the architect has gradually been replaced by the strategic designer, the management consultant and the futurologist. But it’s time for architects to stop acting like victims. The profession must change.
At the same time, massive changes have occurred within the traditional domain of architectural practice itself. It’s not simply a building business anymore.
There’s been an exponential increase in the involvement of specialised consultants to address the increasingly complex technical, logistical and legal frameworks.
Read the full editorial: http://theconversation.edu.au/building-the-future-with-the-next-generation-of-architects-1907
Launched in March 2011, The Conversation is an independent source of information, analysis and commentary from the university and research sector