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Originally Posted by FrankLloydWrong
1000x This^. As someone that works in the design world, I can't tell you how many times a client has ruined a good design. Design doesn't happen in a vacuum. It starts and stops with the client. If the client is willing to pay for good design, then good design is what you get.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pilsenarch
Yes, in this case, that was exactly the issue... the very inexperienced developer kept on insisting on dumbing it down to save as much $ as possible...
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I have a few architect friends who have told me this many times. In fact even the clients who have the money end up sometimes wanting various aspects dumbed down a little bit. I've seen my friends' work and the progression starting with something awesome and at the end the client wants something very mediocre.
I worked as a consultant for many years until fairly recently - but I still work with consultants. Although it wasn't for architecture or building, I know that it's all controlled by similar forces. A lot of that is economics, budget, margins, etc. Can't tell you how many times I've been on things that have had to be dumbed down only because the company who's paying for the work didn't want to take a risk, or couldn't afford it, or implementing what we suggested would not hit within their timeline. I've also been in on work many times where the stuff being implemented is far below the actual potential skill set of who is working on it. But at the end of the day, it's who is paying. Firms can only do so much, but at the end of the day it's up to the person paying for the work to sign off on it. It's also really common to have a client who has no idea about most of the things they hired a firm to do and then still tell that firm they're wrong and not want to listen to them.
I just for the life of me will never understand people giving an architecture firm crap and never the developer. Especially in this case - we all know that BKL is capable of good architecture. It should be blatantly obvious it's the developer at fault for having a mediocre design. It's kind of crazy how many people actually think somebody like an architecture firm takes no direction from a developer on something funded mostly by a developer. There's only so much you can do without pissing off a client and them abandoning you.