In technologically advanced countries, a very low percentage of archi- tectural graduates work in their field of study. In Iran, where relatively more construction is taking place, one can find few buildings which are really the result of an architect’s idea. Successful author architects re- ceive little material or intellectual reward for what they do and are usu- ally challenged by their clients. Unfortunately, a considerable number of clients change the projects according to their taste, decommission the architect midway through the project transferring the responsi- bility to some else, refuse to pay the design fee or through various dirty tricks try to get free service from their architect and expect the de- signer to do whatever they expect of him for an unlimited time in return for a fixed fee he has received. They do not respect the intellectual rights of designers and interfere in projects in all sorts of ways. While architects are dragged into complicated struggles for protecting their intellectual and material rights and very often find their rights infringed upon, the same does not apply to the specialists in other fields. If we compare architecture to other professions which have an academic basis, for instance medicine or law, we realize that our peers in other professions are paid for their services without hav- ing to guarantee the positive results of their work. If, in the manner of Middle Ages, we consider architecture a pro- fession similar to dressmaking or shoemaking, then we shall still con- front this paradox that even craftsmen do not have such a complicated relationship with their clients with regards to their rights. Maybe architecture is an art. Artists need to go down a much more complicated path to achieve success. The more a profession is distinguished for satisfying a need for personal expression, the more difficult it is to be successful in that profession. Yet, when an artist gains a certain status and presents his work to the market, he is less challenged by the customer architects. Nobody asks a painter, ‘Why is your painting so expensive? Your canvas or paints do not cost that much! How many hours have you spent on making this?’ When I look at some of the successful architects of our society, I think that architecture is, more than anything else, a business, and an architect in the free market, is a businessman above any other thing. Yet this comparison is not fitting either because tradesmen allow no customer to take merchandise out of their shop without paying for it first. Architects work according to their contract and deliver their design just to realize what a scenario is prepared for not paying their fees. Even when the material rights of architects are observed, little respect is shown for their intellectual rights or the real value of their work. In many cases, the clients destroy the merits of the project with their inappropriate interventions. In general, the most important and valuable aspects of a designer’s work are invaded. Another common problem is that the architect is asked to work in the style of another architect. In his first session with a modern archi- tect, the client brings with him an image he has googled or cut out of a magazine showing a kitsch design and asks the architect to design something similar for him. This is like finding a poem by an unknown bad poet and asking a prominent poet to write poetry in that style. Yet, the issue does not end here. The client also dictates the words and phrases he likes. In many instances, he changes the project midway through the design. Architects deal with creativity, problem-solving and multidisciplinary management. Architecture is an activity which is first and foremost concerned with the totality of the design. Unlearned clients sometimes have particular expectation with regards to details. They demand to have numerous incongruent elements, functions and factors at the same time which are beyond the capacity of the project and do not realize that the health and consistency of a project is much more important than accepting all their wishes. An architect starts from an abstract idea and gradually finds the form of the building as he designs. The client starts from a mental image and expects the ar- chitect to create a new concept through the application of all elements and ideas already used in thousands of other works. Architects try to criticize the beliefs of the past and go beyond the clichés and outdated forms while clients like to see all their old beliefs and tastes confirmed in a house built for them. In the fight between the client and the archi- tect, two types of character collide: the client and his taste (the result of which can be seen in the luxury buildings of the northern part of the city) and, the client and his understanding of his social status. Through a building (his office or home), he wants to convey to others a clear message with regards to his status. In contradiction to these two op- posite, and in times complementary, characters, stands the architect and his individuality. As the creator of the work, the architect has pref-
erences, part of which is completely personal and relates to his interest and professional and cultural background. Some other preferences of the designer relate to the temporal and local conditions. Rarely architects enjoy a coherent personality the same way traditional and conservative people do. They constantly compare their practice with the latest architectural developments and expand their knowledge. An architect needs to grow out of his skin and step into a realm he has not experienced before. If we look at the development of Bahram Shirdel’s architectural style in the past two decades, we will see how he has moved from an excessive and abstract formalism to a concern for historical patterns and concepts of Iranian architecture. To all these different layers of personality, another complication must be added. The members of our society, particularly those with a weak cultural consciousness, choose those on whom they rely according to their outward qualities. In my view, one of the reasons behind the failure of the distinguished architects in their interaction with clients and the success of some other architects who apply the least specialty and knowledge in their work is the drastic cultural difference between the good architects and their clients. History has shown that successful ar- chitectural works are born when the architect and his client are on the same cultural level. In prominent projects, clients play a constructive and effective role. In most architectural projects in Iran, the client has a destructive and impeding influence. It seems that architects and clients do not understand one another, which is very strange. Architects are paid for their services but the value of their work is beyond what they receive return even in best cases. The added value of an architect’s work is his art. The value of a good contemporary painting is hundreds of times more than that of the hours of work and effort spent on producing it. A distinguished work of architecture is an artwork the same way a painting is, but an architect is never paid for his art. The second value which is ignored is that of educating the client. Architects teach clients a lot about architecture, aesthetic, culture and art during their long conversations with the cli- ent. Based on my personal experience, I can claim that in several pri- vate projects the fee for a private education of the client was higher, if calculated, than that for designing the project. The third value belongs to the indirect benefits of the project for its addressees. In legal cases, it is the client who benefits most from the lawyer’s work. In medicine, the patient gains most. In architecture, building a beautiful and healthy building is of public benefit, but the architect receives nothing in return for this particular aspect of his design. If the work situation of architects is harder than that of other professionals, artists, craftsmen or businessmen, it is true that archi- tecture encompasses all four disciplines. Architects need to inscribe themselves in one of these four groups; hence the clients are never clear with regards to how to deal with them. The lack of a coherent system that would define the real role of architect in the society is also influential. Architect as a craftsman is the most acceptable form of this practice in our society because cultural achievements of the Renais- sance have not been entirely transferred to Iran. Architect as an artist and thinker has its roots in the 15th century AD. In Iran, apart from certain periods (Isfahan in the Safavid period, Samarqand under the Timurids, etc.) an architect has mainly been a craftsman. The client does not appreciate the concepts and creativity of the architect and regards him as a mere performer of his desires and ideas. Since the ideas are dictated by the client, he does not recognize most of the architect’s intellectual or material rights. As an artist, the architect is not accepted by the society at all and if a client accepts the architect’s theories and aesthetics for whatever reason, he would ask himself why he should be the person who pays for the architect’s reputation and satisfying his artistic desires. The emotions of an architect who announces his passion for work is often abused because the customer thinks the designer is rewarded through his passion for work and the fame that he acquires. As specialists, architects are indispensible to solving the technical, functional and economic problems of projects, yet, due to the lack of a system that creates a need for specialists, this aspect of an architect’s job is restricted in our society to signing municipality’s plans. In other countries, architects are hired to design exact technical plans, plans for economizing energy, for sustainable architecture, façade engineering, fire protection, adapting spaces to the needs of the disabled, hygiene in work and living spaces and tens of other technical issues. Businessman/architect is the most successful type of architect in Iran. A businessman is well aware of the client’s psychology and
his weak points. A businessman/architect puts the client in such a situation that the client believes he has received the best service for the lowest price. My simple research for this issue of the magazine showed that some of the aforementioned architects deliver to the client for half the normal fee of an excellent work, a product which is produced with one eighth or one tenth of the costs needed. In order to hide their real profit from the project, these architects use different strategies such as partnership in construction, to ask for a share of the property as the fee, providing part of the construction material for the client and selling it to him, partnership with the equipment and material providers of the project, modifying the terms of the contract in such way that higher fees could be asked in the middle of the project, etc. One of the main factors in the business of an architect is to become a brand. In recent years in certain European countries some luxury residential complexes have the names of famous architects such as Bernard Tschumi, Norman Foster, Frank Gehry, etc. on their facades. The reason why tradesmen in the housing sector approach renowned architects is not only to benefit from the added value of their art, rather these days the name of such individuals on projects serve to add to the price of the product, the same way the logo of a clothing brand does. This is why a famous brand such as Tiffany com- missions Frank Gehry or why Swarovski commissions Zaha Hadid to design jewelry. Such an orientation can also be seen in Iran but in a vulgar and low-level form. If artist/architects turn into commercial brands in Europe, in Iran the businessman/architects become artistic brands. For the sake of variety, in recent years a number of these architects have tried, parallel to their profitmaking commercial activity and through figures close to cultural and academic circles, to acquire a cultural and artistic reputation for themselves by holding lectures and exhibitions with little substance. One of these branded architects is known to all of us and gains much of his income through signing projects that others design for, which is exactly what Salvador Dali once did: He sold a large number of signed sheets of white papers to art enthusiasts. In Iran, sometimes the blame for the low quality of the architecture in the country (admitted by both private and govern- mental clients) is laid on architects. The lack of identity, impracticality of the design, waste of space, high costs, unrealistic designs, and discord with the demands and desires of the clients, etc. are the com- mon clichéd accusations with which the works of good architects are rejected. They believe that Iranian architects, contrary to physicians or engineers, are no specialists rather amateurs who try to acquire fame through wasting the client’s capital. At least in the case of big projects, I personally believe that the bad quality of the design and execution of buildings is mainly the client’s fault. It is the duty of the client to find the suitable agents before starting the project. If there are no good architects in our country, the clients can, as done in other countries, hire good architects from abroad instead of wasting much capital for executing a bad project. Maybe it is due to an awareness of such a simple principle that in the recent years the clients of large projects insist on referring their works to international consulting engineers. However, even in this respect, most of the time there is not a proper understanding of how foreign consultant should be used. The main weakness of Iranian architecture is not in its concep- tual or aesthetic side but rather in transforming ideas into technically correct designs and executing them according to standard technical principles. In the recent years, a number of important international designers were invited to prepare conceptual designs for projects in the capital and other major cities. The most critical part of the design, namely the technical design, interior details and supervi- sion was referred to local work forces. I believe if we put technical international teams who have not become commercial brands hand in hand with good Iranian designers making sure the projects are executed properly in terms of their technical specifications we shall gain much better results. The main problem with big projects is their weak management. I have observed how very large projects with powerful consultants under construction in the capital are supervised by weak and inexperienced management teams. It is extremely easy to prove the existence of such a weakness. In the past forty years, many renowned architects have come to Iran and presented high quality designs for various projects, people such as Alvar Aalto, Kenzo Tange, Louis Kahn, Peter & Alison Smithson, Gerkan Marg and Part- ners, Bjarke Ingels, Vicente Guallart, Farshid Moussavi, Chris Bosse and Zaha Hadid but up to current date none of their projects has been
1- Alvar Aalto, Kenzo Tange, Peter & Alison Smithson, Louis Kahn, Gerkan Marg &
Partners, Bijarke Ingels, Vincente Guallard, Chris Bosse, Zaha Hadid
constructed. This is while great international architects have created numerous projects in third world countries. The problems mentioned above are a list of issues that most architects have thought about and it is natural that the question would be what to do in such a condition. It seems that part of the solution to this crisis is to insist on and sup- port architects’ demands for defending their guild. It is harmful for ar- chitects to be part of Construction Engineering Organizations as other engineers are. Architects would always be a minority and as such, collective decision-making is always to the loss of architects and the benefit of other engineers. An independent engineering organization will definitely be influential in defending the rights of architects. One of the problems that the organization currently faces is architectural competitions. Regulating competitions on behalf of just one side of the problem (which does not find it to their benefit) is very difficult, particularly when other engineers within the organization are the least interested. However, it is better for architects to develop a more active presence in engineering organizations and try to segre- gate architecture from engineering within it. The other problem can be solved through academic institutions. Academic curriculum is so general and holistic that architectural graduates enter the market without specialization. Some specialties required by architects were mentioned above. Currently, some private institutions and organizations affiliated with universities hold several complementary courses for establishing different technical specialties within the discipline. Considering the growth of awareness among architects and authorities concerning the importance of technical specialization in architecture, one can hope that in future the technical aspect of architecture as a profession is recognized more by clients. Public media can also play an important role in stabilizing the image of architect as a creative specialist who has the responsibility of guiding the public taste. The US is one of the most conservative western societies with regards to architecture. However, from the WWII onwards much cultural effort was put into familiarizing people with creative and progressive architecture. The book, Fountain Head, also translated into Farsi, was published in America in 1943. The protagonist of the book is a creative and genius architect who rises in protest to the conservative architecture of the time. The author of the book, Ayn Rand, an unknown writer before its publication, sold 5.6 million copies and rose to fame and great commercial success with this book. In 1949 a film starring Gary Cooper came to the cinemas. The leading role shows an architect of Mies van der Rohe’s type who is a sworn enemy of neoclassical architecture popular in the first half of the 20th century. It is curious who this film was screened in the US 10 years after Mies van der Rohe received his first commission and played an important role in attracting people to progressive and subversive architecture. Cultural activities with a public audience that attract people to progressive architecture, particularly those featuring the personality of a creative architect, are of course influential. One of the weaknesses of architects as compared to artists is that they sell their work before it is finished. Of course, this no general rule but most of the time it is very much like that. To sell something before it is done puts the architect in a situation where the client can interfere in the project. The architects of the Renaissance periods (geniuses such as Michelangelo, Antonio Da San Gallo or Donato Bramante) were not exceptions to this rule. In the centuries between the Renaissance and the modern period various stories have been told of the interference of clients in the architects’ designs. In many in- stances, designers had to use bizarre tricks to persuade their clients. In Iran, the situation is very critical. I recently heard of one of the best young contemporary architects of the country gratuitously accepting part of the costs of the construction in order to convince the client to finish the project. Now, the experience of several successful and experienced architects shows that a good solution could be that good designers start investing in construction. Although this is something far from architecture as a discipline and many architects including my- self have no talent for it, it might be possible to think of a way, through gathering different skills and investments, for turning architects into their own clients. Selling finished products, either residential buildings or offices, prevents clients from intervention and abuse. One of the problems related to this issue is that many architectural clients do not have the experience of new spaces and their conservatism stems from mere unfamiliarity. It is only natural that the more good buildings are constructed the more people will be interested in them.