Dexter Architect

As an old Southern saying goes, ‘The hardest part about moving a sawmill… is getting started.’ Turns out, the same applies to starting a blog about the day-to-day realities of business in architecture. From deadlines and clients to contracts and contractors, I figured it was finally time to pull back the curtain a bit and answer some common questions about the ins and outs of the architectural business that I get on the regular.

After 30 years in the field, I’ll admit I’m a little blinded by my experience. A lot of what architects deal with every day feels completely natural and intuitive. It’s only when someone asks questions like, “What’s a latent conditions allowance?” or “Why does it matter how many watts a video screen uses?” or “Who says I need a sprinkler system anyway?” that I’m reminded most people experience buildings without ever really thinking about how they work. If everything goes as planned they shouldn’t think about the buildings. Just live their lives and the built environment can help them do that.

While architecture affects everyone, it isn’t everyone’s BUSINESS. There is a practical side to how buildings come together — a method to the madness, if you will.

That’s really the point of this blog. I want to write for people who aren’t architects but are curious about the profession and the strange, practical, and often fascinating world behind the creation of buildings we all use every day. Other architects may see the profession differently than I do, but hopefully these posts will give you a little insight into the what, where, why, and how of what working architects actually do.