Architectural Time - 04.2007
One of the hardest lessons an architect has to learn is the concept of architectural time. Unlike regular time, architectural time is quixotic. It moves at a snail’s pace and can jump to hyper-speed in a moment’s notice.
What is architectural time? It is the vortex of design process, development cycles, regulatory entitlement, and construction stages. Architectural time is the challenge of building in a complex, interrelated world. What we do as architects is of huge cultural significance, producing massive objects that are in existence for decades – at the least. Because of this significance and because of the associated cost of building, the process is fraught with delays and second thoughts.
Once a project is initiated, the pause button gets hit often. A client who says he aims to build a residence in six months might get cold feet when the full scope of the challenge is clear. The sale of land for development can drag to a crawl as the purchase agreement is batted back and forth by the buyer and seller’s attorneys. The contacts, networking and persuasion required to entitle a use different than that planned for a property can add months to the process. Material shortages and unexpected construction conditions can stretch the clock when everybody’s meter is running.
While I was apprenticing and working through the licensing exam process, I did not realize how architectural time affects running an architectural business. I was insulated by the firm’s owners from the implications of architectural time. The pause button would be hit for a project and my time would simply shift to another project. I did not have to sweat the challenge to a firm’s cash flow that the pause button represents. I came to work and got a paycheck every two weeks.
Now that I am running my own design firm, I appreciate how good my past bosses were at managing architectural time. Now, when the pause button is hit, I check my firm’s bank balance.
The lesson I learned is that the best way to master architectural time is to pile my firm’s plate with more jobs than it can apparently stomach. As one job cools for a period, invariably another will heat up. I have yet to predict the pace a project will move at, but I have gotten comfortable with throwing more balls in the air than I think I can juggle. So far, architectural time has kept all but two of the balls out of my hands at any one point. Of course, I’m sure that will change in a moment’s notice.
[Published in the on-line journal 'Emergence', by the AIA California Council.]