"The architect's role has traditionally been relatively well-defined: design a building, direct the project, coordinate logistics, and guide construction through to completion. As specialised fields have proliferated, together with a rapidly changing social economy, the practice of architecture has diversified, opening multiple paths for how architects can contribute to society. Since the 1980s, one of the most consistent shifts may have been the separation between the "design architect" and the "architect of record.""
"One promising trajectory is a turn from singular, permanent objects toward ongoing placemaking -iterative, context-specific programmes that prototype, test, and refine spatial ideas in public. Rather than producing one large, iconic work that fixes a site for decades, this model privileges cycles of making, use, evaluation, and adjustment at the community scale. It asks architects not only to research, design, and build, but also to curate, operate, observe, and, when needed, rerun the loop in the same place or elsewhere."
The architect's traditional responsibilities include designing buildings, directing projects, coordinating logistics, and guiding construction to completion. Since the 1980s, work has often split between "design architects" who set conceptual direction and local "architects of record" who handle technical detailing, approvals, and site execution. That separation arose from internationalisation, licensure regimes, procurement models, and liability structures, offering expertise, efficiency, and profitability while fragmenting authorship and delivery. A promising alternative emphasizes iterative, context-specific placemaking that prototypes, tests, and refines spatial ideas in public. This approach lowers capital costs, accelerates tempo, deepens everyday engagement, and expands architect roles to include curation, operation, observation, and repeated adaptation.
#architectural-practice #design-architect-vs-architect-of-record #placemaking #iterative-community-design
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