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20 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / MARCH 2015
R egardless of what industry you hang
your hat on, the 21st century has posed
a healthy dose of change to any and all
industries comprised of “practicing profession-
als,” regardless of generation or experience level.
Whether you’ve felt chagrin about being moved
out of an office and into a workstation, lamented
the lack of mid-career employees in the job mar-
ket or mentors in your workplace, or willfully an-
ticipated yet another “game-changing” software to
learn, each year seems to bring a new set of norms
that, at the outset, feel more like accepting an un-
wanted gift from a distant relative than a welcome
opportunity to adapt or excel.
Architecture is no exception; while the frame-
work of the practice is still linked to client relation-
ships and physical realization via construction, the
tools, techniques and technologies being utilized
are vastly different than as recent as 10, five or even
two years ago. And that’s not all that’s changed. Also
changed are the stakeholders, firm structures, proj-
ect delivery models and, perhaps most difficult to
measure but achingly evident, the perception of the
value of architecture in society (just ask Frank Geh-
ry, who recently claimed that “in this world we are
living in, 98 percent of everything that is built and
designed today is pure s@)*”. )
As industries change, so must the professional or-
ganizations that have been established to help their
members both navigate and initiate changes that
directly impact the profession and everyday prac-
tice. Depending on the industry, its history and its
member constituency, this process can be harder for
some than others. After watching my sister navigate
the tech and start-up world, I became enamored
with the word “pivot,” loosely defined as when a
company finds its Plan A business model isn’t work-
ing and decides to “pivot” to Plan B. What freedom
– to be able to change the game before, during or
even after it was played – to try a new model or idea
and to embrace that 180 degrees was a better angle
than 20.
In architectural practice, I like to think we pivot
daily. Architects have to stay agile and unafraid to
pivot in numerous design decisions. Site locations
and client opinions change, programs shrink and
grow. The original design sketch rarely emulates
the finished product. Furthermore, what medium
we use to make “the right drawing” or to express a
specific idea can change on a whim. From an image
Beth R.
Mosenthal
Assoc. AIA,
LEED AP
BD+C,
Associate,
Gensler
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