The multitude of technological changes of the last two decades has had a tremendous impact on the way architects do things. But it is equally important to recognize and understand the impact on the culture and structure of our profession.
When I first started in this profession as a pre-intern in 1989, CAD was just becoming commonplace in architecture firms, but was used mainly by a few, specially trained CAD draftspersons. Only a select few had a PC at their desks; the bulk of the technology was located in the CAD room. Most work was still produced in the traditional manner: a single designer passing on information via drawings and sketches to a drafting technician, who would complete a sheet of working drawings on a drafting table with pencil or pen on vellum. Other technologies in use at the time were the ammonia-based blueline machine for creating reproductions, the felt or metal tipped pen plotter, 5.25″ and 3.25″ floppy disks, the KROY lettering machine, and the abundant use of the Letraset peel-and-stick films and lines. All of these available technologies helped us do things a little faster, but it was still a relatively slow way to produce work.
Today we have BIM—Building Information Modeling—3D modeling programs such as Sketchup and FormZ, email and instant messaging, smart phones and the Web. These technologies provide us with a better and faster way to communicate, to find information, and ultimately to be more productive in our work. Everything is faster, smaller, and contains more memory: think iPod nano. Technology has given us the ability to get information now-now. Podcasts, Tivo, and YouTube allow us to find information or entertainment on demand, rather than waiting for a specific show time. Friends, family, and coworkers easily communicate using email, texting, or IM’ing (instant messaging), regardless of their geographic location. In project delivery, information can be uploaded and shared with a click of the mouse and instantly provide the most current and up-to-date information for our client, contractor, and others.
Our profession has been profoundly altered by the constant and quickly changing technologies available to us. The obvious changes have to do with increased productivity in our project delivery methods, the ability to produce 3D representations for our clients quickly and efficiently, and the compressed schedules under which our projects are required to perform. More interesting, though, are the changes in the relationship the ‘90s generation has with this profession and others in it.
Our generation of architects has many characteristics that are in large part due to our relationship to this rapidly changing technological environment. One that has had the greatest effect on our profession is the expectation of immediacy—a desire for those things that we want to happen to happen now. This expectation stems from our experience with technology, which has conditioned and spoiled us. If we want something newer, or smaller, or faster, it is available to us even before we know we want it. Consider “speed dating.” Rather than meeting people in a more traditional way—at church, at the store, in the local bar scene—the idea is to meet as many potential mates as possible as quickly as possible. If sparks don’t happen in thirty seconds or less, then what is the chance I might like this person in the long term? We have become stimulus-driven and often require multiple streams of information in a short amount of time to keep us interested and focused.
In our profession, the expectation of immediacy has produced some very positive changes. Our generation finds technology to be easily digested, and we understand its continually evolving nature. We are comfortable with the speed of change. We thrive on the ‘new’, as we know that it will make our work easier, faster, and better. We anxiously await the next release of our BIM software, knowing it will provide that one tool that will help speed the process of creating construction documents. Email, instant messaging, smart phones, online social networking communities, and the web keep us globally connected with friends and colleagues and assist us in being more productive in our work. If capitalized upon, these tools benefit firms by helping to produce happier employees, better projects, reduced schedules, and increased profitability.
These are among the many positive outcomes that stem from the expectation of immediacy, but it has also caused tensions within the workplace. These tensions usually relate to our seeming impatience with the way things are. We have trouble waiting, because, when it comes to technology, we are used to getting things as quickly as we ask for them. Upon graduation from college, we expected immediate licensing (well, at least some of us did). We want to run our own projects, hold positions of leadership, and receive rapid increases in pay. We are impatient for the opportunity to show our capabilities and to earn our place, right now. Because we are so used to having to figure out technology for ourselves, we are self-sufficient and willing to take risks—sometimes to the dismay of our elders.
The problem is compounded by the fact that the ’90s left a huge void of qualified architects when the profession hit a major economic low. This void created a competitive market in which, if an employee is unhappy in a current position, it is easy to seek other, more desirable opportunities. Employment is now seen as a mutually beneficial business relationship, which lasts only as long as both parties have an interest in it. This situation has given our generation the stigma of being disloyal to our firms—especially if the firm has invested quite a bit of time and money in the development of the employee.
But if AT&T provides the iPhone with their service only, and you can’t get it with Verizon, you’ll change service in a heartbeat to get the new service, right? Similarly, if a business relationship is not providing the opportunities necessary for development, those opportunities will be sought out elsewhere. This is not so different from a firm choosing to terminate employment when it judges that it is not getting what it is paying for. Most of the ’90s Generation simply considers a good place to work as one with a stimulating and challenging environment, a clear path for growth, and opportunity for leadership in the firm.
The changes in technology in the ’90s created many benefits and challenges for our profession. We can only expect that such changes will accelerate as technology moves in more interesting and varied directions. Understanding both the direct and indirect implications of these changes will be critical for the development of future generations of architects, for the culture of the profession, and for the thing we do best: creating the emotional and spiritual sense of place that we are charged to create.
Author Edward Mojica, AIA, is on the adjunct faculty in architecture at Cosumnes River College, Sacramento, and is principal of mas|mojica architecture studio in Roseville.
Originally published 1st quarter 2008, in arcCA 08.1, “‘90s Generation.”
