The real challenge to Architecture.....

Context

I was recently asked what the biggest challenge the architectural industry will face in the coming years.

This is not an easy question to answer, as our industry stands at a crossroads of technological innovation, economic fluctuation, and evolving work cultures. 

When speaking to colleagues in the industry, certain themes become clear.

Disruption by Artificial Intelligence is usually the first answer given, economic recession usually comes quickly after. 

Both very valid answers. 

However, BIM has already disrupted the industry significantly, probably more so than AI will in its current state, and as AI develops, the disruption will likely be more like that of BIM. 

Less people doing more work with less.

Efficiency is always the driving factor. 

And as for the economy, well that goes up and down regardless, and is often dictated by events and factors outside of our control. 

The more I contemplate this question; the answer is the combination of a company’s ability to adapt to disruption and the mental health of staff.

These two factors are different sides of the same coin, but which one triggers the other? The statistics on this topic paint an interesting picture. 

Statistics 

According to a study conducted by the website Archinect.com in 2023, 86.7% of respondents felt that the profession negatively impacted their personal life. 

The same study also showed that 57% of people surveyed considered leaving the industry due to mental health concerns. 

These numbers while large, are not surprising to me. 

Two of the highest-ranking reasons for these statistics were ‘Uncertainty of the future’ and ’balancing the demands of work and home’[1] 

Culture 

A company is only as good as its people. If the people are burnt out, it will cause a decrease in efficiency and quality. This, in turn, will lead to more burnout, perpetuating the problem.

If we are honest with ourselves, mental health is not something we do very well as a society, let alone as an industry. 

University culture often instils in us the belief that doing an ‘all nighter’ to finish a studio project is something that is to be rewarded. 

That culture is further pushed in professional life where people like to treat projects like a studio on campus. 

Anything for the project! 

And those who don't work unnecessary overtime are looked down upon and often criticized for not working ‘hard enough’. 

There's no wonder that companies are happy to pursue tighter and tighter deadlines when they know staff will work long hours unquestioned, and often un-remunerated.

These attitudes are not good for people or for companies.

This is fast race to the bottom. 

Health and wellbeing should be the major focus for companies.

Typically, the only effort I see from companies to better the wellbeing of staff is usually contracting a third-party counselling service for the staff to use.

A reactionary approach after the damage is already done.

Instead of tackling the main issues of over working people and the incredible pressure of tight project deadlines. 

If implemented correctly, software and AI tools can take some of this burden.

The issue is these systems are often implemented incorrectly.

Progression in technology has already caused disruption that a lot of companies haven't properly adapted to, resulting in inefficient workflows, creating extra burden and frustration amongst staff. 

What I have seen over the last 10 years is a higher turnover of staff and more people complaining that they are burning out, losing passion and leaving the industry for fields of work that have higher pay and more protection of employees. 

The higher turnover of staff also causes a lot of problems for companies as more of their intellectual property walks out the door and the quality of their product decreases. 

The shocking thing about the issues that I have described so far is that they date back to long before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

I hear managers complaining that the quality of work has declined because of people working from home. 

I am not in agreeance with this sentiment. 

While I am sure there are people who work from home because they are lazy and use it as an excuse to be doing other things. 

These people are in the minority. 

Most people I speak with care very deeply about their reputation and prefer to work from home because they feel more productive amongst many other reasons. 

I will not go into the mental health issues facing society that were caused by the pandemic. 

Although, I will say that the newfound flexibility of being able to work from home, post pandemic, has been a net positive for people’s mental health and wellbeing. 

The decline in quality of output is a symptom of the broader issues that have been disrupting the industry for far longer. 

Issues that I spoke about in my previous article. 

Generally, people are overworked and underpaid. 

Caused by decreased fees and decreased project timelines and company’s procedures not evolving to accommodate modern workflows.

So, now that we have found ourselves in this situation, what can we do about our declining industry? 

How can we address these pervasive issues and restore the industry’s former glory? 

The answer, I believe, starts with people, not technology directly. 

We should be trying to simplify our systems and modernizing workflows to take pressure off staff. 

We should be using technology to assist people, to make workflows simpler and using automation/AI to remove manual labour tasks. 

The emphasis needs to be on improving the quality of life for staff.

The goal for companies should be to achieve good staff retention, not to become a technological wonder. 

Also, Companies need to find innovative ways find new revenue streams. To innovate and add value to the industry at large. 

Conclusion

While technological advancements and economic fluctuations pose challenges, the key to the industry's future lies in addressing mental health and adapting workflows.

By prioritizing our people and modernizing our practices, we can steer the architectural industry towards a more sustainable and revered future and if we can find revenue in other areas then we won’t need to compete on time and cost with other Architects.

This last point is going to be hard, but as they say:

‘Necessity is the mother of invention’ - Plato. 

[1] Archinect’s 2023 mental health survey results (no date) Archinect. Available at: https://archinect.com/features/article/150381668/archinect-s-2023-mental-health-survey-results (Accessed: 15 August 2024).