The Ever Changing Role of the Architect

As the years have gone by, the role of the architect seems to keep changing.  With technology especially, the industry seems to be changing on almost a daily basis!  It has changed in such a pace, especially recently, that the question starts to ask of what exactly even is our role as architects?  Are we merely facilitators?  Are we designers?  Are we only in charge of form?  What is our responsibility?  This also ties into our lecture about facades and the argument that as architects all we have left completely in our control is the facades.  In part I agree with this, however, I also feel that no matter how much the industry changes, it will always be the architects role to create the overall design for the building.  Mainly I mean, the user experience and how a person moves and functions in a space will always be the control of the architect.  While many other trades have an impact on that, it is the architects job to do their best to facilitate and work with the other trades to make sure that the design intent isn't jeopardized.  We are also in control of the facade too.  There is no other building trade that completely focuses on the building envelope.  It is the one technical aspect of the building that is still on the architects shoulders.  It makes sense too.  So many aspects of the spacial quality of a space, such as codes, directly influence the design of the envelope.  The architect is the one in charge of designing the spaces and the user experience, both good and safety wise, therefore it makes sense that they are also in control of the envelope.  We must always remember that BOTH are our responsibility though and not get hung up in only designing the form or facade of a building, but make sure we design the building through and through and simply take a step back and allow other trades to technically resolve areas outside of our expertise.  It is a collaboration.