What is an Architect

A person or entity registered, licensed or otherwise authorized to use the title “architect” and to practice architecture in a province or territory.

The most basic definition of an architect is a professional who is qualified to design and provide advice – both aesthetic and technical – on built objects in our public and private landscapes. But this definition barely scratches the surface of an architect’s role. Architects serve as trusted advisors, their role is holistic, blending diverse requirements and disciplines in a creative process, while serving the public interest and addressing health and safety matters.

Perhaps, it would be best to describe architects as conductors who orchestrate and take the lead in reconciling all the goals for a building or other structure. Architects do this by providing solutions through the use of:

• artistic imagination and creative vision to design spaces where their ideas and techniques-represented through form, light, textures, materials, and colours-combine to fulfill our aesthetic, spiritual, and cultural needs;
• practical and technical knowledge to create spaces that are safe, efficient, sustainable, and meet economic needs; and
• interpersonal skills, psychological understanding and ethical practice to craft spaces that fulfill the complex, and sometimes conflicting, needs of clients, users, and the community.