Architect vs Contractor

 "This generally meant the globalization of American construction techniques, regardless of the end uses, climates and materials, regardless of the local typologies (which are nevertheless still the references for the lives and cultures of many citizens), and indifferent to the local material cultures which had facilitated innovation in architecture and its adaptation to local social and production conditions." -Inaki Abalos

I think there is a disconnect between architects and contractors that deals with the issue of time, money, and knowledge vs creativity. My best friend works for a general contracting firm in Baltimore and we were just discussing the nuisances of our jobs which incidentally relates to Abalos' thoughts on the globalization of American construction. In her experience, the architects are ill-trained and don't know how architecture goes together. Not all, but a lot of those she deals with, she feels, cannot properly detail how a building goes together. 

Understanding her valid observations, I asked her how they would handle a building with completely different construction techniques than the same ones they pump out constantly. She said that the "problem is, we want to, but the cost doesn't allow it and there isn't a lot of supplies or manufacturers that can do it that way. It's impossible cost wise to do that in America." We both agreed that the time crunch we live on isn't helpful either, it creates rushed work.

I think that the interior is a huge part of a project and coming from a background in Interior Design, I prefer to think through the experience of how you move through a space first and build out from there. I think this would be more manageable if architects had the time to work through each project and take the time to research and create ideas that make each project more successful and effective so that clients will pay for it, contractors can build it, and those who use it get the most from those spaces.