I make the money, I make the rules

 

A battle as old as architecture itself. The Client versus the Architect. The biggest heavyweight fight and hottest main card event within the design field. Before we begin weighing the strengths and weaknesses of both parties involved, we must look at the nature of the relationship first. The dynamic between client and designer usually falls into three types: the Helicopter client, the Houdini client, and the Cinderella client. The first is the helicopter client. Like helicopter parents, these types of clients will be over your shoulder for the entirety of the design process and will be the first opinion heard at the table. The second type of client is the Houdini. These people are the rare unicorns that drop the money on the table with a grocery list of programing and will return for the ground-breaking ceremony. The last is the ideal situation with the Cinderella client. Like the story, this is your perfect match. The client has full trust in the architect and the architect keeps the client involved in the constant feedback loop.

That all being said, the decision of who is in the driver seat of the design depends on the nature of the relationship between the architect and client. With a more controlling, hands-on client, an architect’s position can transform into more of a sales representative role. They will tell you yes or no for every design decision leaving you (the ‘designer’) to merely react and adapt the project based on the said demands. The second is the inverse of what was just described. In this second relationship, you see the opportunities that starchitects had when designing some of their most grandiose projects. The last type is the most realistic as far as good projects go. The ideal situation is that both parties are involved and informed, but respect the boundaries of the others perceived knowledge. I would be willing to bet that most successful buildings were designed through a Cinderella type client-architect relationship.