What does it mean to be an architect today? What are the conditions for practicing this profession? In our series "The Profession of Architect" we address these two questions to Polish architects, and illustrate their statements with unrealized office projects. In today's installment, Marcin Kościuch and Tomasz Osięgłowski of Ultra Architects answered our questions.
Marcin Kościuch and Tomasz Osięgłowski
1 What does it mean to be an architect today?
It's a fascinating profession, but it certainly can't be called a profession in the classic sense of the word. We have the conviction that it is more a way of looking at the world. Since it's design, we naturally have to think about what is yet to come. What we draw today, we will build in a year or two, and serve people for maybe decades. Meanwhile, we are working on a project here and now, with the current state of our knowledge of who we are designing for, what we are designing with and with what. That's why each of us tries to look as far into the future as possible with our solutions, hoping to hit the maximum possible target with our knowledge and intuition, and in a few or even a few decades the designed spaces or buildings will still perform well. And if we are to ensure the maximum possible accuracy of the answer, we must constantly learn, develop. Constantly revise our designs and realizations. Also constantly observe the world around us. It is impossible to get bored having such a job.
2 What are the conditions for practicing the profession of an architect?
To answer that they are different than in the past is to say nothing, because it is an obvious thing. The conditions for practicing this profession are changing as fast as the whole world around. New technologies are constantly emerging that we use in buildings, whether for economic, ecological or yet other reasons. So the technical and technological complexity of projects is growing, to say the least. The market is also forcing a reduction in design time, and because of this we have to be constantly up to date with technologies that support design. Legal provisions continue to get more complicated and expand. One thing does not change for this - in the end, everything must be borne by the architect. We are still responsible for the durability, usability and beauty of what is created. From the changing world and the pace of these changes flow for us both additional risks and additional responsibilities. But we also see that opportunities for new and exciting projects are flowing.
Marcin KOŚCIUCH and Tomasz OSIĘGŁOWSKI
Ultra Architects
