Architects Hand Over the Building and Get Paid Only Once
After years of design work, the architect transfers the building entirely and earns no share of what it makes next.
Freakonomics Radio Network · How a Great Architect Thinks ft. Bjarke Ingels | Better in PersonWhen a new office tower or museum opens, the architect who designed it has already moved on. The fee was paid once, for the design and construction work, and there is no share of the rent, no cut of a later sale, and no dividend from a building that may earn money for decades.
Bjarke Ingels, the architect whose firm BIG employs around 700 architects in seven cities and whose role he describes as creative director, compares his work to a friend who starts companies. After five or six years, the friend's company can run on its own and starts paying him. The architect, by contrast, as Ingels puts it, "I just hand over the keys to the new owner and then I start looking for a new job."
Once the building is handed over, the architect is out of the picture. An architect is hired or wins a competition, guides the idea through years of drawings and construction, and then transfers it entirely. Someone else owns it, operates it, and benefits if it succeeds. Ingels agrees that architects get no ongoing payments.
That is unusual next to other creative work. In Europe, visual artists and their estates can receive 1 to 3 percent when a work is resold. Company founders keep a stake. Architects do not get a comparable second payment.
That single payment sits alongside unusual responsibility. Ingels describes architecture as having "the combination of artistic integrity and technical liability," meaning the designer is expected to aim for beauty while remaining liable if systems fail. Training takes many years of school plus supervised practice and exams, while pay across the field is low for that level of preparation.
Ingels says architects do it mostly for love. Architects at BIG told the interviewer you have to be hungry for the work and accept hard assignments as the way to do better work. Ingels adds that he works long hours but is "building a piece of New York" where, as he puts it, "people are going to take their wedding photos on my project one day hopefully."
Questions people ask
How long does training take?
It usually takes at least eight years in the United States. That includes a five-year professional degree, several years of supervised experience, and a set of licensing exams. Many architects keep taking courses to maintain a license.
How does architect pay compare with other professions?
Federal labor data place architects well below doctors, lawyers, and many engineers despite similarly long preparation. Early career pay is especially modest for the amount of schooling required.
Why does a royalty work for art but not for buildings?
It would be hard to adapt. Buildings need constant maintenance, are often renovated, and are owned by companies that bear taxes, repairs, and market risk. A painting is simpler to transfer and costs little to keep.