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Times are so hard that local architects are talking about setting up lemonade stands in order to find work.
They’d sell their expertise for pennies rather than cool drinks.
An answer to one question for a nickel is what Charlotte architect Tom Low proposed to help unemployed colleagues make something happen.
“Designers can come in and set up a design booth with their portfolio for an hour and a half (or more) and we advertise it to the public … could be at a minimum a fun distraction and possibly lead to new opportunities?” Low wrote in an e-mail last month.
The idea has some architects and designers applauding the no-holds-barred approach to surviving the economic decline.
Others think it’s beneath their profession to resort to tactics borrowed from a Peanuts cartoon character. (Charlie Brown visited Lucy’s counseling booth for 5 cents a pop.) Low proposed the idea after reading a recent New York Times article about a Seattle architect’s booth.
The discussion about whether to move forward with the idea continues today at the monthly Civic By Design Forum, where architects, designers and others meet to talk about growth Low is the Forum’s chairman.
Going into the meeting, architects on both sides of the discussion agree one thing: It’s time to do something.
December 2009 marked the end of the second year of steady revenue declines at U.S. architecture firms, according to the American Institute of Architects.
Employment among licensed architects dropped from its peak of about 224,000 positions nationally in July 2008 to about 184,000 in November 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Limited availability of mortgage loans since the global economic crisis began more than a year ago has led to work declines for architects and others in the building industry, Low and others say.
Locally, a few jobs are trickling in, but 2“payrolls are seeing a 30 to 40 percent reduction,” said Kate Shelton, executive director of the AIA’s Charlotte office. Shelton’s estimate is based on a survey of about 40 members.
“There are firms that have not had to lay off anyone,” Shelton added. “They’re taking other reductions – pay reductions, a staff furlough. Those are the biggest things were hearing of.”
While billings have been edging up at firms in the Northeast and Midwest, the South and West are seeing their revenue move less vigorously, the AIA reported.
Kent Lineberger let go of the last of his three employees at Kent Lineberger Architecture a year ago. He leased out his loft office space at Atherton Mill so he wouldn’t lose it. He now operates from home.
“I probably rode out the storm longer than most,” he said.
Business has been picking up recently, but he’s not ready to take on the same level of overhead and staffing that he had before. Other firms also are taking a cautious approach.
The AIA and other groups have organized job fairs, training classes and other conventional outreach programs. Low wanted Civic By Design to pitch in.
“We really need to help our profession,” Low said.
He saw the article last month about an out-of-work Seattle designer who set up a booth at the city’s Ballard Farmer’s Market as a way to promote himself and meet potential customers. The picture showed the man at his booth with a sign that read, “Architecture 5¢.”
Low admired the humility in the man’s story and his resiliency. Low passed along the article to the 2,500 people on Civic By Design’s e-mail list and asked about interest in doing something similar here.
Two to three dozen people in and outside Charlotte responded, most in favor of it and one interested in paying for advice.
One letter suggested setting up booths in the North Davidson Street arts districts on gallery crawl night, which draws crowds.
“We could either find a storefront or do it on the street like the artist do,” the e-mail said.
Architect Adi Mistri of Mistri Hardaway Architects is taken aback by the idea.
“I think there is a modicum of professionalism that we ought not to lose,” he said last week. “There are other things that we can do as a profession. Give a gratis consultation.”
Almost in the same breath, Mistri said he’s willing to be more generous about protocol these days.
“It’s a very difficult environment,” he said. “I think anything goes.”
