Architecture is Awesome #19: Every Day is Different

This is another in my series of posts inspired by 1000 Awesome Things, the Webby Award winning blog written by Neil Pasricha. The series is my meditation on the awesome reasons why I was and continue to be attracted to the art of architecture. 

The hallmark of the life of an architect is there’s no such thing as a typical workday. No two days are the same. 

Every new project is unique, even if the project types and clients remain consistent over the years. An architect often works on multiple assignments at one time, each at its own point along the continuum from project conception through design to construction and occupancy. Some projects are big and take years to complete; others are small and short in duration. Some involve large teams comprised of a diverse set of collaborators; others may only involve the architect in a study of limited scope. All are complex in their own ways.

Each workday is full of its own challenges. Senior architects respond daily to project needs, manage the efforts of team members, put out fires, and chase new work. Constant change and evolution are facets of every waking hour. Everything is fluid, demanding, sometimes teetering on the edge of chaos, but always interesting.

Working in a small firm—as I do—offers additional benefits. You get to learn all aspects of the business, inside and out. You’re less likely to get pigeon-holed, so your skillset diversifies. Small firms are less hierarchical, so you work alongside your supervisors rather than for them. All this translates to increased opportunities to see, learn, and do more.   

If anything is typical about my calendar, it is how atypical each day is likely to be. My schedule for tomorrow is a case in point. It includes an early-morning meeting with a client’s team for a massive project, succeeded by another meeting with the same client’s public engagement and outreach team. After that, it’s time to shift gears and turn my attention toward a project currently under construction by checking in with our design partners and review our urgent to-do lists. A conference call for yet another project entering the Design Development phase will then take place, followed by an Owner-Architect-Contractor meeting on site for a different project. Between these obligations will be time spent reading and responding to emails, phone calls with clients, contractors, and design consultants, and providing guidance to staff here in my office. Tomorrow will end with me teaching a Construction Contract Administration class in the evening for the Construction Specifications Institute. None of this will be repeated the next day.

The work can be grueling and stressful, and the hours long, but being an architect is also immensely rewarding. Being an architect means never being bored. Every day is different, every project uniquely challenging. Being an architect means never having to relive Groundhog Day. It’s AWESOME waking up each morning confident the day ahead will be new and exciting.  

Next Architecture is Awesome:  #20 Future Thinking