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ARCHITECT VS ENGINEER

In construction industry, it involves architect, engineer, quantity surveyor, project manager, landscape architect, acoustician, and the list goes on. Architects are the main professionals who will first deal with the clients. After obtaining the basic ideas or problems, the architect will submit a brief solution for the client’s consideration. Prior to getting client's approval, architect provides a detail solution by getting input from other professionals to materialise the building construction. 


An architect's dream is an engineer's nightmare has become a well-known perception in the construction industry. However, is there any merit or truth in such perception? Is it true that creativity is only for architects, while engineers only provide solutions to ensure architectural creativity is safe to build? Architect akin to an artist. The first phase is the sketching phase of the fundamental creative ideas and translating the client’s intent via the artistic shape, space and building effect to the surrounding areas. 


Engineers more into detail, design and safety. Engineers need to provide structural layout design to support the architect structure such as the columns size and position, the size and position of beams, slabs thickness and drop and so on. My experience working with architects has always faced a situation of overlapping or inconsistency between creativity and building stability. There are issues regarding column position, cladding, etc. Of course, it is difficult to get the right design during the first phase, as the next round requires design iteration work. 


The issue here is that the rate of engineering involvement during the conceptual design is quite low. Conceptual design is a short and sometimes ill-defined stage of creativity, with or without the engineer's input. The input of engineers during this phase is crucial in realising the idea of ​​architect's building and further pleasing the client. Communication with architects and engineers during the conceptual design stage needs to go through many sketching and designing iterations until a mutual decision reached, which is translated into CAD drawing format. There are three phases in design, namely conceptual, detailed and construction. Engineer input in the first phase will help a lot in facing the next design phases. With the initial involvement of engineers during the conceptual design phase, it will break the perception of the engineer as the enemy of creativity.

AZMIR


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