Rough Draft - Article on What Architects Do. This is a photo of students graduating at a continuation / alternative program school that i designed in the early 2000s. Seeing these students graduate ten years after we completed the project was rather uplifting. It felt great to be appreciated, but more importantly it felt great to see students who had through difficult circumstances persevered to complete their high school education. Instead of a group of "portable" buildings, we fought and advocated for a serious school to provide these students with "pride of place" for their education. We design for the BEST Students, and all students ARE the BEST.

Architects aren't drafters, but we draft. We aren't simply there to carry out tasks given to us. We are there to guide, to lead and to advocate for our clients and the future occupants of the places we design and get built. You hire an Architect, not for what you 'know you want" but for what the Architect will discover that you need.  You hire an architect to do things that you have no idea needed to get done. Or to design and create new ideas that you had never conceived of. If you simply need someone to carry out tasks to accomplish what "you know you want or need", then you don't truly need an Architect. If you want to work with someone trained and dedicated to finding great solutions that have yet to be solved, then you need an architect. And if you want an architect - it will be an even better journey of joint discovery and creation.