EVERY ARCHITECT SHOULD BE A POLITICIAN

If you are an architect you should be involved in leadership: making laws, policies and helping to determine the welfare of your community. The time has passed when architects turned up their noses and dismissed politics as a dirty game. An African adage says that if you wash your cup and air it outside and a mad man picks it, and you allow him to go with it, it will belong to him forever.

Wikipedia defines politics as the science or art of political government or the process of making decisions that apply to members of a group. Politics is understood as forming alliances, exercising power and protecting and advancing particular ideas or goals. BRITANICA defines architecture as the art and technique of designing and building. The practice of architecture serves both utilitarian and aesthetic ends. The term architecture is also used metaphorically to refer to the design of organizations and other abstract concepts. There is an obvious correlation between both terms. To make the best of both worlds, an architect should also strive to be a politician. You only ignore politics at your own peril

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I know that architects see themselves as the leaders in the construction industry and in the world generally, putting themselves above the engineers, quantity surveyors, estate surveyors, lawyers, project managers, etc. This complacency is at the heart of the endless economic turbulence which most architects resign themselves to. Leadership is gauged by influence. Influence and power go hand in hand. In fact, they are interchangeable. You cannot call yourself the leader while other people exercise the greater influence. And by the way, in our clime, the poor man is psychologically drained of power. So a jobless architect cannot be an authentic leader, since an architect's economic wellbeing is dependent on being busy. We know that you are a very busy person. You spend sleepless nights churning out those beautiful designs which in most cases are not paid for. Ask yourself why the soldier, politician, lawyer, estate surveyor, banker, engineer, artist, accountant and even civil servants who were your classmates are better placed, stable and richer than you.

Something must be wrong. Whatever ground lost can be recovered by putting your ears to the ground and being more pragmatic. Get involved in the decision making process! By your training you are adequately equipped. Charity starts at home. You can start with your local chapter of NIA. Ask questions, demand answers and insist that the right people get elected. And if you trust yourself so well, who better than you to lead? We started as very creative people in school. What has become of that spirit? Creativity is the highest money spinner in the world today. So why are we not exploiting our innate creativity to become well to do? Wake up architects. The time is now.