Architecture Rant

Its taken 3 years of rabid negotiatiation, rejected building approvals, council appeals, out of court settlements, building delays, boundary survey stuff-ups, re-engineering, and further inexplicable building delays just to get to this stage, and the interior fitout is still not complete. Remarkably, the client is hanging in there, the architect (me) has not resigned in frustration, and the builder is still philospophical about it all.

On days like this I dont particularly enjoy my profession. Ive just had an email from a builder (on another job) asking for more constuction details, immediately (in fact yesterday, or even last year would be better) on a minor issue that should have been resolved by him yonks ago. Its an engineering issue, and not even my remit....but its the expectation that it should be something I should do something about and right now that really rubs me up the wrong way. I suppose all professions, in fact any job, has these daily dilemmas. I just wonder if architects are particularly prone to maltreatment from builders, consultants, and in fact the general public! Sigh... I know that what we do as architects is not often valued and poorly understood. And i suppose I would concede that there are alot of examples of architecture of questionable merit out there.

Happily, the kids are playing quietly in the hallway, oblivious to my heightened emotional state (why cant I just let stupid emails that piss me off not bother me so much?) The little darlings are having a moment of self sufficiency and shared imaginative game-playing. Perhaps Ill join them.

The good thing about being a part-time mum, sometimes architect, and an about-to-resign-from-tenure lecturer (subject of another day's post) is that if one any one aspect of my life is unsavoury, Ive still got a couple of others to dip into. It helps remind me not to dwell on the inevitable merde that arises; to not 'sweat the small stuff'. And, as the book's by-line suggests, its all small stuff.