Social media — in this case, Facebook — is an amazing thing for providing a stage for discourse and debate.
(I won’t bring up trolls).
A few days ago, I posted a link to my feature story in the May 3 Real Estate section (“Small Wonder”) on a well-designed house on Madison Court in Sarasota.
This house on Madison Court in Sarasota's Laurel Park neighborhood has just come on the market at $1.15 million through Linda Griggs of Michael Saunders & Co. Certified LEED Gold, it was designed by the owners and completed in 2012. (Staff photo / Harold Bubil)
It began: “You can design a house without an architect. But you can’t design a great house without a talent for framing space and using it efficiently.” (The house was designed by the owners, who are not architects but work in the building industry.)
The first sentence of that paragraph sparked a thread of Facebook comments that I recommend you read if you have an interest in residential design and the role of the architect.
“My apologies for bringing this up, Harold,” wrote Sarasota architect Javier Suarez Fernandez, “but as a proud member AIA (American Institute of Architects), I must state the beginning of your piece does nothing to help our profession. Yes, it is legally correct that you do not need an architect to design a home of a certain size, but by stating this is the case, it undervalues what architects bring to the table.
“This type of headline-grabbing description just reinforces the perception by most individuals that architects are overpriced and are simply not necessary. I do appreciate all the other articles you have written and posted so far praising the work of some of our talented architects in Sarasota, but this one kind of hurts.”
My response: “The Hafners (Paul and Martha, the homeowners) are design professionals and the story states that they learned by working with architects and master builders.
“Any non pro who thinks they can pull off a house like this is sadly mistaken and likely will lose a lot of money in the process. Yes, you can design a house without an architect. That does not mean it will be a good one.”
Javier’s response (edited for space): “What I am referring to is perception. There are plenty of individuals who read your posts who do not know what an architect does, and what their years of training, licensing and practice provide.”
Architect Leonardo Lunardi elaborated that architects have a number of duties under Chapter 480 of the Florida Statutes.
“As licensed professionals,” Lunardi wrote, “we are expected to have reasonable working knowledge of laws that affect us in the discharge of our duties as architects. The primary purpose of this statute is to ensure that every architect practicing in the state meets minimum requirements for safe practice.
“As professionals, we are held to a higher standard of care in any contractual obligation. . . . A fiduciary duty is the highest duty of trust and confidence that one person may owe to another. This is the type of relationship that binds us to our clients; as architects, we have a legal duty to act in another party’s interest.”
You can read the entire post, including a discussion about the definition of “design professional” vs. “professional designer,” at www.Facebook.com/HaroldBubil.
