What Principals of Firms say an Architect Needs to Know: International Comparisons

Working from the results of random sample questionnaire surveys conducted in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, this paper reports and compares the knowledge needs of architects in these four countries. Profiles of the average respondent, each a principal in his or her firm, in each of these countries are presented. The results presented also discuss these respondents' views of the future of their profession and the work of architects in the three geographically disparate regions of the world. In brief, the results indicate that there are many areas in the education of those who practice architecture that they believe were under-served in their university-level education and that these beliefs are fairly consistent across international boundaries and different educational systems.