Architecture:story of Practice

Although architecture is the fastest-growing profession in America, its private context remains shrouded in myth. As Dana Cuff shrewdly observes, it is filled with contradictions, particularly in the realm of practice. She delves into the architect's everyday work world to uncover an intricate social art of design. The result is a new portrait of the profession that reveals what it means to become an architect, how design problems are construed and resolved, how clients and architects negotiate, and how design excellence is achieved. Cuff concludes by discussing how the design profession, particularly the schools, can take advantage of these observations to strengthen the profession and lay claim to the whole design process.Cuff shows how architects fashion a meaningful place in society by working in collaborative settings, although attributing singular importance to the creative individual. She addresses the discrepancy between the many competencies required by practitioners in complex settings and the narrow teachings of architecture schools. Throughout, she questions whether architecture is essentially the domain of specialists or of qualified generalists.The different components of Cuff's cultural model of architectural practice are described in full. These include history and demographics; the differences between design problems in practice, in the academy, and as construed by the professional organization; the metamorphosis of layperson into architect; tCuff, Dana is the author of 'Architecture:story of Practice' with ISBN 9780262031752 and ISBN 0262031752.