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The word ‘architect’ is derived from the Greek root arch, meaning ‘chief’, and the word tekton, meaning ‘carpenter or builder’.

For us architects are socio-spatial problem-solvers, integrators of complex bodies of information and masters in space-craft with ethics and professional judgement. A fundamental problem for architects is that clients often have feeling that they aren’t really necessary and that what they do do is of dubious worth. Architects then are generally the frst to get the blame, when very often they are enacting the wishes of their clients. Second problem - increasingly architects are having to vie with a range of other professionals for the role of ‘independent client adviser’ as interior designers or contractors. When the architect is on the side of the contractor who is solely concerned with making money, rather than with the quality of the build, the results can be poor, as the architect has no power to infuence the fnal outcome.  The resultant design errors are a symptom of dysfunctional organisational and managerial practices that prevail within the construction industry. They signifcantly contribute to cost and schedule growth, and rework. Architecture as art cannot effectively be subjected to external management: indeed it can only occur if the architect is in complete control. And at above all, at the level of domestic architecture the public seems largely ignorant of the subtle differences between an ‘architectural designer’ with no qualifcations to work on their house and a registered architect. Alarmingly, a large proportion of people unaware that architects might have any role in the management of a building project.