RETHINKING HOUSING EDUCATION IN ARCHITECTURE SCHOOLS

Architects are involved in only a small percentage of all built projects and are becoming marginalized in the huge home-building industry where other professions are moving in to profit from the need for affordable housing. The vast majority of homebuyers today view housing as a commodity and are unwilling to spend more on an architect-designed house. Architects must expand the market for their services to include a far greater percentage of new buildings. It is my contention that the new place for architects is in the design of speculative housing as expert consultant to the developer. The practice of architecture must change emphasis to consider more social and economic concerns. The attitudes and skills currently being taught in architecture schools must change to reflect the new needs of the profession. Architects must be taught behavioral psychology, demographics, and building economics to enable them to apply their knowledge to the market, thereby rendering the architect’s services indispensable to developers and the housing industry. Architectural education must play a key role in redefining the scope of the profession.