The Office (Part Two: Archictecture, Like the World, Is Flat)

While we were all sleeping, our worst fears have been realized. It seems that a 10-year-old child in Bangalore can now do your job more effectively than you can. What's more, he's willing to do so for mere pennies an hour. Luckily, the profession that I have chosen is insulated from the effects of this "flattening" by such constraints as the need for proximity and supervision. But don't hold your breath just yet, men. Soon enough, even the best Sharkitect will need to keep an eye over his hunched shoulder; within a few scant years, all of our skills will be appropriated and applied remotely from Hong Kong.

Here is why: as I learned today, architects who cut their teeth in the 70s and 80s are literally awe struck when a person can, say, find zoning information on the internet within a matter of minutes. They are used to a system in which it is necessary to make endless telephone calls and arrange countless appointments only to find out that the building in question is zoned R-1-B after all. Moreover, they are aghast at the notion that anyone could more or less imagine how the schematic design of a 400-square-foot addition might play out without needing to burry themselves under a mountain of trace paper.

I am no Leonardo. But I can tell whether or not a reasonably sized bathroom will fit within a given area. As for why: I have used computers since 1985. The same cannot be said of my employers.