The Recession Continues to Affect Construction Industry
The recession is continuing to affect the construction industry in a multitude of ways. A CNN article on how the economy is hurting architects explains that the recession is forcing many projects to be scaled back, and architects are being forced to tone down their ambition. Several impressive and creative buildings have recently been built, such as the Aqua skyscraper in Chicago. However, these ambitious projects were mostly funded prior to the recession. In today’s troubled times, managing costs has become the most important thing for projects being built now.
Much of the work now involves smaller projects, such as renovations to existing buildings, rather than massive skyscrapers. Large architectural firms are forced to take on these smaller jobs, which has the side effect of pushing people out of the field at the bottom, who in better economic times would have been the ones getting the smaller jobs. A disturbing long-term problem stemming from this is that the next generation of architects just coming out of school are having difficulty finding jobs. The fear is that they will be pushed into another field altogether, which could lead to a shortage of architects when the economy turns around and their expertise is once again needed for future projects.
And what will this future architectural work consist of? According to AIA president George Miller, the architectural work of the future will likely be “energy-efficient design and a renewed focus on infrastructure, especially in urban areas
Despite the current struggles, there are positive signs for the future. Experts agree that architecture is a cyclical industry and the market will eventually bounce back.