ABSTRACT
The roles and responsibilities of architects havechanged greatly over the centuries, shifting from court official to independent designer. Without a client, however, a building does not happen. Unlike painting or poetry, which can be pursued by individual artists on their own, architecture results only when a client or patron has the desire and financial wherewithal to call it into being. Thus, the creation of architecture is also a history of the relationship between client and architect-who, in turn, work with the building contractor and the scores or even hundreds of workers with myriad skills who work at the contractor’s direction. Of all the design and visual arts, except perhaps for movie-making with its many participants, the creation of buildings is the most complex process.
