What are all the hats an architect wears?

I recently polled my Twitter community of architects and other sustainability-driven design and building professionals on the [hard] hats an architect wears!

When I’m asked what I do as an architect, it’s never a simple answer.

Yes, my work absolutely informs design, but there are so many supplemental nuances- some obvious, and some not so obvious.

So, I had to pose the question and my fellow architects really brought these answers home! My tweet went viral and I could not have anticipated the passion and diversity this prompt evoked. I had to share the responses with you all.

Some are witty.

Some are creative.

…They are all on the mark.

This post is:

For those aspiring to get into the field of architecture.

For those in the field of architecture still trying to find their niche.

For architects who may not work in the traditional role or who juggle many responsibilities.

Twitter Credit: https://twitter.com/hooka321

ARCHITECTS ARE…..

• Post-disaster specialists / humanitarians

• Communicators/Specifiers

• Activists

• Design-thinkers, futurists, philosophers, systems-theorists, inventors, writers, story-tellers, planners, developers, imagineers

• Risk Managers

• Alchemists

• Master procrastinators

• Life changers

• Renderers

• Relationship Builders

• Technicians, Technologists

• Process Architects

• Mediators

• Orchestrators

• Strategists

• Preservationists

• Advocates

• Facilitators, researchers, advocates, reviewers, visionaries, movement-builders, framers, equalizers

• Optimists

• Craftsperson, builders, creators, technical specialists, designers, programmers, information managers, coordinators, makers, thinkers, project managers (today’s task)

• Coordinators

• More and more often, programmers. Technically sometimes, strategically in others.

• Enablers

• Emailers

• Advisers/Advocates

• Psychologists

• Underpaid People

• Peacemakers, Diplomats, Dreamers, Therapists, Hope-makers.

• Listener, thinker, life evaluator, life safety expert, HERO

• Concerned Citizens

• Problem solvers; project managers; creators; writers.

• Workers

• Storytellers