Architecture as a profession has a reputation for long hours. Is this reputation warranted? Do architects work long hours, and if so, why?
Architects work long hours because of perfectionism, hard deadlines, and the culture in the industry. Perfectionism can cause architects to work hard to produce a product they are happy with. Hard deadlines require long hours before a certain date. And the culture in the architecture industry values hard work and lack of sleep.
If you have worked your way through architecture school, you will have heard the phrase ‘a project is never done’ countless times.
Perfectionism
Architects are notorious perfectionists. And buildings are incredibly complex systems. When designing a building considerations such as plumbing, air supply, circulation, all come into play. Not to mention items like budgets, where to source materials, and buildable construction details. Trying to balance all of these constraints, and more, and then create a beautiful building is what the job boils down to. And yet finding the balance between these items is an impossible task. It simply can’t be done. Designers could work on a project forever – and yet at some point they need to pull the trigger and decide that it is good enough.
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