prediction #464

It is the opinion of towers of ilium that there will not be a shortage of architects or other design professionals in the coming decades. More significantly, even if there is some kind of shortage, salaries in the profession will not rise by any meaningful amount--except for the well-positioned and lucky. The recent recession resulted in layoffs of up to 30% of personnel in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction. However, even if the economy gets back to the production levels of the housing bubble years, improvements in the delivery process of buildings will mean that a restoration of prior employment ratios is not necessary. Software has made smaller teams faster and cheaper. Design quality has suffered, and will suffer more, and I doubt anyone will care. The magazine architects will continue to instill a biased view of what architecture and architectural service amounts to. Meanwhile, the proliferation of American suburbs will continue unabated, with building design becoming ever more generic, universal, stupid, and placeless.