What does it mean to be an architect today? What are the conditions for practicing this profession? In the series "The Profession of Architecture" we address these two questions to Polish architects, and illustrate their statements with unrealized office projects. In today's installment, our questions are answered by Anna Paszkowska-Grudziąż and Rafał Grudziąż from the 81.WAW.PL studio.
Anna Paszkowska-Grudziążand Rafał Grudziąż
1 What does being an architect mean today?
Being an architect means designing a "prototype" of a building, which is immediately created in its final form. You can't build a model to work on first (as is the case with cars and furniture). There is one approach.
To be an architect is to be a psychologist who can listen to the wishes and expectations of the investor.
To be an architect is to be able to work together as a team of people, whether in a studio, on a construction site or in an office.
Being an architect is also the ability to put on paper what we have in our heads in such a way that it can be executed.
Being an architect is knowing construction law and technical conditions.
Being an architect is working after hours, it's believing that it makes sense.
Being an architect is constant changeability, every project is different. Everyone has different problems to solve.
Being an architect is the desire to realize the dreams of investors, making the surrounding space better and better.
2 What are the conditions for practicing as an architect?
A tough question, because it touches on a great many aspects. It is not clear what exactly to focus on....
If we look at it very generally, the conditions for practicing the profession, compared even to what it was 30 years ago, are sensational. We have computers and programs that support design. The turnaround time for design documentation has accelerated. The presentation of the concept in such a way that the client sees the "real" building in 3D, we can do practically on the spot. On the other hand, we have a mass of regulations that need to be woven into the design without loss to the final form. On the third hand, swelling volumes of studies and necessary attachments to projects, in which sometimes even officials get lost, but soon we have a big change in the construction law. It's good, and we look to the future with optimism.
Anna PASZKOWSKA-GRUDZIĄŻ and Rafał GRUDZIĄŻ
81.WAW.PL
