December 2, 2020

Quality architectural work is no easy operation. It has been estimated that approximately 3,000 product decisions are required on the average building construction project. The thousands of details covering every square inch of a building means professionals need to be “in the know” about everything from engineering to interior design.

Asking why architects matter leads to two related answers. The first is about their intrinsic value to society as creators of healthy, safe, and beautiful buildings and spaces. This value is unchanging and impervious to recessions or depressions (or viruses, for that matter).

Let’s look at Lehi. I happen to reside here, so I’m looking closely, perhaps a little too closely.

There’s no question the pandemic-impacted economy can be a daunting prospect for job seekers. Not since the Great Recession of 2007 — 2009 have new graduates faced so much uncertainty in the job market. Who better to advise the class of 2020 than those who have been there: architecture professionals who started careers during the height of the previous recession?

Name: Eman Siddiqui

Hometown: Karachi, Pakistan. A city of 20 million people on the coast of the Arabian Sea.

Things have changed very quickly over the last couple of months, with one day looking better or worse than the day before. I can see the next few weeks unfolding this way: If infection rates drop, confidence in public health and an economic recovery will go up. That’s a future scenario. Presently, we’re in a situation where we’ve prepared for a three-month recession and, now that it’s extending a little longer, things are going to get harder for businesses that aren’t ready for the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) to expire.

Across the world, COVID-19 has ripped through economies. Many small businesses are in peril; 20% to 80% of restaurants are not expected to survive. The airlines are predicting record layoffs in the Fall.

The last several years have seen a major boom in the architecture business, but now a period of slower growth, indicated by the Architecture Billings Index, is pointing toward an impending downturn. In preparation, three firm leaders — Tim Dufault, FAIA, president and CEO at Cuningham Group; Carole Wedge, FAIA, CEO at Shepley Bulfinch; and Ed Shriver, FAIA, founding principal of Strada — share their insights on how their firms weathered previous tough times and what they’ve learned from decades of financial ups and downs.

Monmouth University’s most prominent building, dating from 1929, was designed by Julian Abele, the first African American to earn an architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania. But it was named for Woodrow Wilson, whose legacy includes reinstituting racial segregation in the federal workforce.

Today we find ourselves facing circumstances unprecedented for us personally as well as professionally.