2.0 INTRODUCTION
Communication and our means of interaction with one another is an inevitable part of our daily lives. This is especially true as technological advances continue to create consistent social presence within web based interfaces. As designers, this expanding presence in areas such as the web and social networking sites is broadening the available audience with whom designers are able to interact. Architects’ presence in communities is moving beyond marquees, name plates, business cards, and letterhead and is infiltrating the digital world with ferocity.
Throughout the modern era, the architecture profession has pulled away from the work of master builders and the creative nature of the architects’ work has become highly revered. However, the often high cost of design fees, the ability for almost anyone to produce highly vernacular structures with simple knowledge of tradition and construction, and suburban sprawl and modular construction have all placed less weight on the necessity of the architect in the building and construction industry. While architects are educated and trained to improve the built environment in which we live, integrity is often negated due to economic necessity. Architecture, without a doubt, is an industry that is victim to frequent economic hurdles, especially in times of recession. The future of our profession may very well be dependent on the value of our profession and our duty as ecologically aware citizens to share this knowledge and our talents with society at large. Our duty now is to communicate outwardly, beyond the threshold of the design community, through reliable methods, tools, and channels of communication that our potential clients and fellow citizens can better understand.
Architects often distance themselves from interactive client relationships because they fear transparent communication and congeniality will interfere with their creative and innovative efforts in the design process. This fear, however, may be erratic because it is likely that clients do not have a background in design and creative problem solving and are not interested in leadership or control positions. Rather, clients and stakeholders in design projects are interested in developing collaborative solutions to their problems through non-adversarial processes that develop new tangible possibilities and design artifacts.
Design teams spend a large portion of cognitive operations during the design process on not just designing, but organizing themselves as a working unit. Shared experiences and mental models are ways that design team members can operate as a streamlined, synergistic entity. It is important that our communication methods with fellow design professionals and consultants within the building and construction industry are part of a common language.
Beyond the face of our companies at the community level (as mentioned before through channels such as business cards, marquee advertisements, letterhead, and our digital presence) our spatial interactions with our clients carry a large burden of presenting our tastes and design styles outward. Besides verbal and digital communications with clients through phone, email or teleconferencing, welcoming them into our design space, studio or conference room is their first look at our design capabilities and talents. If the environment where we plan to commence new working relationships within is not representative of our values, abilities, and skill the designing, we may lose much credibility. This design environment should be one that is highly attended to and is most precisely our expression of our mission and values as an architectural or design entity.