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Architecture is an important part of our culture. Unique and beautiful planning and design in buildings and other structures can provide industry--construction, engineering, maintenance and jobs--and commerce: in tourism, retail trade and hospitality for all a city's inhabitants.
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The responsibility of an architect is to create new buildings with aesthetic values. He is also assigned a greater task: to engineer the safety of all those who inhabit or use the facility. This is a tremendous undertaking because the design must meet high city standards and regulations by permit, must be a functional area and must also meet the economical requirements of its founders or clients. Architects may work on factories, municipal buildings such as courthouses and airports, and even hospitals or college campuses.
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There is always the question about the difference between an architect and a draftsman. Simply put, they are similar in that they both know how to draw blueprints and room plans, but the difference is in education and responsibility. An architect needs a license to practice and his main talent is in knowing how a structure should be professionally engineered. That means he must know the math and measure of a house, for example, from the foundation to the roof. Architects are the major overseers of construction, including designing the inner works or manufacturing of such things as electricity, water, heating and cooling design and more.
A draftsman's skills reside in drawing the aesthetics of a building, room, feature, fixture or furniture. She masters the creation of cabinetry adornments, trim, facades--the front of things--layouts and room plans, but is not able to say how a wall could be moved, for example. -
There are as many different types of architectural drawings as there may be specialties, such as landscape architecture, residential work, building or high-rise architecture, or the engineering of great vessels, including ships and airplanes, and even apparatuses such as ski lifts. The design field is vast.
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An architect needs a variety of skills. In addition to design in structure, she must also know about environmental concerns--can a structure be built on a landfill, for example?
Besides the site work she has to implement the client's vision while remaining within budget, so cost analysis is a big part of the job or commission. She must stay current with building codes, know about zoning regulations and even meet certain fire codes. And, of course, communication among the buyer, the city, the contractors or tradesman and inspectors takes up a major part of the architect's day on projects of any size.
Architects are adept with concept and spatial design, and are able to utilize designer software, such as"computer-aided design and drafting systems, or CADD, plus two-dimensional, 3-D and other types of designer applications. -
Architects need much education. A fully-educated architect will have a master's degree in architecture (more than 5 years of schooling at an accredited college, according to National Architectural Accrediting Board standards). He will then take difficult licensing tests, which will enable him to become a professional member of the A.I.A., the American Institute of Architects.
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The employment future is good for architects but it is a highly competitive field. Wage structure can vary depending on whether the architect is with a firm or self-employed. Wages typically range from about $50,000 to $80,000. dollars per year and depend a lot on the geographical region and population growth.
