These young kids today …

[Heather Smith]

Just for the record I am typing the correct word! Just realized the site thinks the middle part of the phrase is a bad word. 🙂

[Pat S. Rosend]

You said this so much better than I ever could. The one skill in the real world that is not taught in schools, is the politics of working.

[Pat S. Rosend]

Learning to delegate is an important skill. Your description makes me think you might be tough to work for. You would insist on everything the way you knew best and not let anyone “pull the wool” over your eyes because you knew how to do everything. My boss does no design work. She is a planner actually. She did when she was at my position, but now her duties are completely different. She doesn’t know how to use any software, but it is never important really, what program we use, just the end result. Your focus on the big guys knowing all the nuts and bolts of everything is not really viable in a larger workplace. Many good designers who have been promoted up the chain have hated it b/c they lose their design responsibilities.

[Anonymous]

The world has changed, there is probably too many landscape architects who only speak English. The economic power is shifting East rapidly, which is back to historical norms. America is still great and will still be an economic power. But now, my generation has to be more global. The decoupling of the economy is happening now. Either join the global elite, who are not tethered down to nation-states. Capital, materials and now labor can move around the world freely and easily. The world has been sold off to the new plutocracy. The middle-class will shrink in the US and most of the world. Economic inequity is back big time. Labor unionization and laws have been defanged. But my generation needs to shed national/ tribal affiliation to join the the global citizenry. Welcome to the true meritocracy. But yeah its a real rat-race now. I suspect my generation will have to accept lower pay and lower standards of living. I mean when gasoline hits $4.00, it will be a true economic mess. Americans spend almost a third of their income on transportation. This could be a silver lining, and mean that the the US is ready for infrastructural and living overhaul. Which, would be a boom for LAs. But we hope to god the baby boomers will not strangle future growth because of entitlement funding. We will have to see.

[Anonymous]

So what’s your point? Are you saying young LAs should learn multiple languages and do design projects all over the world, because the US is done developing?

 

Yes, capital and material can move around the world somewhat freely, but I’m not too sure about labor. It depends on the country and weather or not a person’s skill is needed. And there’s also the risk of being truly exploited when venturing abroad for employment. I’ll take my chances with the labor laws that we have here in the US. Until I have no other choice, I’ll live and work here, and vacation overseas.

 

If the middleclass is shrinking in most of the world, why would I want to leave my country in search of a better life? What are the chances of an LA advancing into the upper class abroad? Besides I’m not too sure how a “global LA” would be able to visit all of his/her project sites.

 

This country is great because of the people that have come here from all over the world, our resources and ingenuity. That’s our advantage. We’re a little beat-up right now, but we’re not knocked-out. This is just a time of transition.

 

Since you feel that you and your generation will have to accept a lower standard of living here in the US, then I can guarantee that with that mindset, more than likely you will.

 

Best of luck! Please keep us updated on your pursuit to become a part of the “global elite”.

 

[alland]

Thats absolutely correct, Andrew. I also have work experience in Design Build and consulting Engineering offices. I found the design build experience a great tool for building my knowledge, yet the pay was of course lower, right out of school. The engineers were the same experience you had mentioned. Landscape Architecture is often the afterthought (maybe less so today) to these principals at A/E firms,” a as if just being an LA and “green”is going to generate alot of work and it will be Disney World. I often times was lost as to what my value really was at the end of the day. A road improvement project until it was done, i.e.  The money was better, but for a short time. “Be billable or be gone” was and is the constant motto for these groups. Those bringing in work are hired and kept on as long as that work keeps generating. Enter politics and networking, its all the same game…

 

This is the deal: we are market and project driven, when either or one tanks, we suffer.That includes all the design professionals.

[Anonymous]

You sound so offended. I in no way want this to happen, but it is. Globalization is a race to the bottom. I can’t figure out politically or socially how to change course. Us, americans do not want to hear reality sometimes. We had Carter in a turtleneck telling americans to turn down the thermostat and drive the speed limit. He was almost prophetic in his pursuit. But everyone wants our standard of living. You realize our whole society is based on cheap gasoline. Until or if we ever find an alternative to crude oil, we will have a more and more expensive goods. I am just saying to become truly competitive in this market its good to know another language. You could potentially have 6 billion clients. Labor is being outsourced from lawyers, surgery, what makes you think landscape architecture is completely immune. A lower standard of living, its already happening. Young people these days are miles behind their parents at their respective ages. The baby boomers were not hobbled by student loans and ever-increasing liabilities on entitlement programs. And if you didn’t notice in no way am I happy about this outcome. So being snide at me, is completely misreading my posting. I am not happy about a global elite not tethered to nation-states or a new plutocracy. You kind of just read a few of my points and assumed I was expounding that position, which I wasn’t. But its cool. Take care

[Anonymous]

I wasn’t in the least bit offended. I just think what you stated so eloquently didn’t make much sense.

 

I personally have used rendering/graphic companies overseas to have work done, but I know a person on the other side of the world who can’t visit a site regularly, wasn’t raised here (thus not knowing the subtle nuances of the culture), doesn’t know local building practices, can’t talk eye to eye with planning department officials and can’t hold a “high maintenance” client’s hand is going to be my competition any time soon. Just like I know there’s not a guy over in Singapore (or anywhere else in the east) worrying about me taking his clients while I’m based in the US.

 

You can have the best survey in the world and millions of photographs; it’s not like being able to walk the site. I realize that I could email design and construction drawings any where on the planet, but an LA’s work is tied to a specific project sites. It’s hard enough trying to get a project built the way you envisioned and drafted it when you’re in the same town as the project. I’m not saying that it’s impossible to build a good project while the designer is in a different place; it’s just more efficient and lessens the chance of a misinterpretation when everyone involved on a large landscape architecture project is at least in the same region. That’s just common sense.

 

I get the feeling that maybe you’re just thinking too hard or worrying about things that you have absolutely no control over. I’m from the Midwest and we tend to be a little less complicated I guess. So to put it to you plainly, life sometimes sucks and it has been that way for a long time. It’s easy for us to sit around in our air conditioned/heated homes, with running water and flushing toilets, 300 cable channels on the TV, internet access and a well stocked refrigerator to whine about a lower living standard.  There’s no such thing as the “Good Old Days” when everything was dandy. Earlier generations had it tough, just like we have it a little tough right now.

 

Any how I would rather learn a new language so that I might make a new friend. I wouldn’t be able to manage 6 billion clients. And learning all those languages – Yikes! J

[Boilerplater]

Your mention of local building practices and the need for face-to-face contact with a client reminded me of something I saw recently on Fareed Zakaria’s “GPS” program on CNN.  I like his take on global issues and how they relate to our current economic situation.  Anyway, he had a list of jobs that he thought would be better able to withstand the forces of globalization, that couldn’t be outsourced.  One of them was interior designer, because of the way they need to work closely with the client.  You could say the same thing for a lot of landscape architecture projects.  Of course, I wanted to say hey, Fareed, interior design is a luxury good that depends on well-heeled clients for support.  When more and more of the American populace has to deal with less discretionary income, the money for interior design just will not be there unless you are fortunate enough to be in one of the parts of the country with a high % of wealthy people.  He assumes a future where the middle class still exists and has the money to spend on design services.  I really hope it turns out that way.  He knows the situation a lot better than I do!

[ykonwanderer]

Craig, I agree completely.  Looking at senior members I have worked with, they might not have the latest software experienceor be the fastest all the time, but they have *people* and *project* and *problem* experience – which is ultimately the more important skill set when push comes to shove.

[Anonymous]

I’m also a big fan of Fareed. I get the feeling that he’s one of the few unbiased journalist out there. I like his Newsweek articles as well.

 

I can see why interior design and landscape architecture is somewhat less susceptible to outsourcing. It’s too bad were not like plumbers, mechanics and nurses they have very little to worry about.

 

We have lots of things that need to be fixed and built in this country. They can’t build them with out us design professionals. So it’s just a matter of time before we’ll have more work than we can stand.

 

[Author]

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