Who is an Architect?

An architect is a certified professional who makes space. Architects project houses, office buildings, skyscrapers, landscapes, and even entire cities. An architect is an individual, who designs and proposes his constructions according to client’s demands taking into consideration current regulations such as health and safety of people. Designing a building expresses the unique vision of its creator, the spirit of the age and current technological development. Every building has its consequences, it affects the lives of people within and around it and becomes imprinted into the landscape of a town and becomes a part of our being.

A simplistic view of the role is that architects create architectures, and their responsibilities encompass all that is involved in doing so. This would include articulating the architectural vision, conceptualizing and experimenting with alternative architectural approaches, creating models and component and interface specification documents, and validating the architecture against
requirements and assumptions. However, any experienced architect knows that the role involves not just these technical activities, but others that are more political and strategic in nature on the one hand, and more like those of a consultant, on the other.

Architects are developed in many areas, from past preservation to geomorphologic engineering. Like doctors and lawyers, architects have finished university studies and drawn out internships. In majority of the regions of the world, architects must surpass a series of rigorous tests in order be certified.

How much do they earn?

Many things influence an architect’s salary. Income differs enormously according to geographic location, type of firm, level of education, and years of experience. While published statistics can be outdated, they will generate a universal idea of the income and gain for architects. According to US Department of Labor statistics, in May 2008 architects in the USA earned between $41,320 and $119,220 a year. The mean annual salary of an architect was $76,750 per year, and the average hourly rate was $36.90.

Based on the Design Intelligence Compensation Survey for 2009, architect income stands steady despite the financial downturn. Income for recent architecture school graduates are rising. The mean salary for a graduate with a Bachelor of Architecture degree, for e.g., has increased from $39,333 in 2008 to $41,012 in 2009. The mean salary for a graduate with a Master of Architecture degree has increased from $42,985 to $47,263.

Licensed architects with over 20 years of experience gain an average income of $100,723. 20% of the experienced architects gain up to $142,200, as reported in the Design Intelligence survey.