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At least once a year, some bright-eyed young student calls me up and, either out of academic compulsion or actual interest, asks to interview me about the architectural profession.

I never say no to these requests because I had to do the same thing when I was in school. But as much as I try to put a happy face on my profession, when our little chat is over, these kids always seem to leave a bit discombobulated. They no longer think of the architect as the Fountainhead so much as Mr. Potato Head.

It鈥檚 certainly not my intent to disenchant them. It鈥檚 just that many people鈥檚 preconceptions about the architectural profession are far from reality.

The romantic myth of the architect is that of a brilliant loner at the drawing board, conjuring poetic designs with dramatic sweeps of the pencil. And, truth be told, architects seem perfectly happy to sustain this notion. When Frank Lloyd Wright was asked where his creations came from, for example, he mischievously replied, 鈥淚 just shake them out of my sleeve.鈥�

Yet nowadays, even among the relatively few architects in position to design entire buildings, the artistic aspect of the profession comprises only a small fraction of the job. The rest is gobbled up in researching building codes, producing working drawings (the 鈥渂lueprints鈥� of yore), hewing to voluminous civic design restrictions and keeping clients happy, all while scaring up enough work to pay the bills.

Most architects, however, don鈥檛 end up in solo practice at all, but rather go to work for larger firms. They seldom get to shake much of anything out of their sleeves. At best, they may design certain bits of buildings, while at worst they may be relegated to writing specifications or some other less-than-artistic pursuit.

Money, or the lack of it, is another thing that shakes up these students. Among the professions that require both schooling and a rigorous licensing process 鈥� medicine, law, engineering and the like 鈥� architecture is by far the least lucrative. According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics for 2006-2007 (which predate the current economic malaise), architects earn an average salary of $69,760. This is nothing to sneeze at, but given the academic requirements, it鈥檚 not in the league of physicians ($142,220) or lawyers ($113,660). It鈥檚 even quite a bit less than the $81,750 average of our nearest colleagues, engineers.

Faced with the prospect of enduring four or five years of college, three or more years of internship, and 30-odd hours of examinations, this is not necessarily the kind of reward that young people have in mind.

Given these realities, I always conclude my little lecture this way. If you鈥檙e absolutely smitten with architecture 鈥� if, like me, you鈥檙e happy spending both your working time and your free time basking in its intricacies 鈥� and you also don鈥檛 care much about money, then there鈥檚 no more rewarding profession on the planet. But as these young students鈥� downcast faces so often reveal as they鈥檙e going out the door, it takes more devotion than some people perceived.

Arrol Gellner is a California architect, college teacher and syndicated columnist who writes about architectural issues.
漏2009 Arrol Gellner
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