Designers are visionary decision makers so, in essence, everyone is a designer. Architects enjoy solving problems and they do it for a living - exploring alternatives and making choices. They also perform the difficult task of recording those choices in a manner that they can become reality. Having an idea is one thing, making it a reality is the difficult part.

Design is a mental process that solves a functional problem. This means that a designer envisions the solution to a design problem, that is, in his mind's eye he can visualize the solution and then proceeds to act upon his vision. Recording the mind's eye requires the same techniques as in literature, drama, music, painting and ballet, only in the case of architecture, that common means of expression is a set of drawings to most call blueprints. Those drawings are a means of recording the mind's eye solution to an architectural problem. It is common to think that architects produce blueprints, but what architects really produce is the design of a building. The drawings are only instruments of service that convey that design.

There are two types of architects: Those that execute only his mind's eye solution to the client's problem and those that will attempt to record the clients vision. Architects of the first type are: Mies Van de Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright and Corbusier. The buildings they designed are their designs. Architects of the second type ferret out the mind's eye of the client and, along with their own solutions, communicate both visions in the working drawings.

Often the client is unfamiliar with available building materials, methods of construction and drawing techniques which are necessary to solve an architectural problem. This is why registered architects go to college for a minimum of five years and serve a three year intern period prior to registration. They are professionals who have studied the techniques necessary to design buildings. There are others called building designers who are proficient in drawings but have not had the educational background to become registered architects.

Building designers and some architects have standard plans of houses already built and although it appears that to be simple to reproduce these houses on another site, the site may have different orientation, utility connections, available materials, deed restrictions, different trade practices and different code requirements. Also, owners usually want a few changes in the layout which affects the original dimensions.

Sometimes the original architect will be willing to make minor changes to their plans for you, however, in many cases, it would be easier to begin with a new design using the standard for reference. The new plan would take into account all the differences that may be demanded by the new site and owner.

Architect's Plans vs. Builder Plans

Builders claim that the owner does not need an architect to design their building. The builder can employ a draftsman to do the necessary drawings to pass the city permit office and get the building built or sometimes the builders do the drawings themselves. There are advantages and disadvantages to this method.

	Architect	Builder
Product Use	Architects design from a wide range of products, including those from around the country and around the world.	Builders tend to design from the local market place and their designs are often cheaper.
Imagination	Architects not only knows the local market, but can design products to meet specific design challenges.	Because they use local products, builder designs can be repetative.
Client Focus	A good architect should endeavor to accomplish the wishes and objectives of a client.	Builders are discovering that they do not have the time to produce custom drawings for demanding clients.
Detailing	More decisions are made up front instead of during construction, saving time and money in construction changes.	Builders often leave a lot of details to be settled during construction.
Bidding	Drawings produced by an architects are geared for competitive bidding.	Drawings produced by builders do not take advantage of the competitive bidding process.

Builder homes sometimes require that you adapt yourself and your family functions to the structure as per Mies Van de Rohe. With Architect Plans you can build a house around your family functions as per Frank Lloyd Wright.

From Thought to Reality

Architects have been schooled in architectural history, engineering, administration and graphics. This education qualifies them along with their internship to be good communicators of the mind's eye.

Form vs. Function

Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies Van de Rohe were good communicators of their mind's eye, however, they disagreed as to the approach to architectural design. Mies Van de Rohe built buildings and placed the function in it. Frank Lloyd Wright, on the other hand, believed that design consisted of placing the structure around the function.

They were both correct, however, it depended on the type of building being designed.

In the case of a multi-storied building on a restricted site, the site dictated the shape, then the function is placed in it. Building techniques and materials dictated the form of the building; the owner occupied the space and adapted it to his use.

However, Frank Lloyd Wright recognized that there were functions that a building could be built around, such as; schools, hospitals, auditoriums, and others.

Arriving in a western town in the United States in the past century, a person could recognize the different types of buildings because of their external appearance. Today, it is sometimes difficult to recognize a building's function without a sign. A house should look like a house, it has the characteristics of a house and uses materials that are common to domestic architecture. The structure should reflect the building's function and say "this is a house".

Art of Architecture

Art is a mental expression that is communicated through some technique of medium and the art of architecture is the ability to communicate a building type as envisioned by the mind's eye using the techniques required to execute architectural drawings which are instruments common to the building trades. Registered architects have moved beyond being only embellishers of buildings as was common with the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris, France.

Today, architects are visionaries who bring together the specialties that have been developed by technology and are demanded in modern buildings. They are the coordinators of all the specialties, engineers, who are required to solve an architectural problem. Which means that they are generalists in the process that is required to design a building. At one time, it was thought that artists made good architects; they could make drawings of what a building should look like. They were embellishers of brick, stone and plaster. This is no longer true. A good architects today should not only be a visionary, but should also be able to organize a team of specialists to accomplish a building design.

Building Technology

In times gone by, the architect could know all there was to know about building technology. This is no longer the case, technology has far out distanced the ability for one person to know all there is to know about building. This is why we have engineers and specialists in building technology, and the architect is the captain of the team. All of these specialists are designers of sorts: they make design decisions which affect the outcome of the building process.

Architectural design is a constant evaluation and analysis of technical problems that arise in the design process envisioned in the mind's eye. Design time occurs at odd times during the day or night whenever the designer is thinking about the problem. Design time is not necessarily drafting time. Architects are offering the ability to provide drafting time and design time. They are professionals offering a service called Architectural Design.