It involves both artistic and scientific skills to produce a technically feasible structure. The architect first receives instructions from the client about the type of building wanted, following which the architect sketches and plans the building, showing sizes, specifications and also estimates the cost of all materials. Sometimes, a large project may require the need for a model. The contract needs to be looked after by the architect, who would have to pay visits to the site on a regular basis, keep an eye on the quality of work and progress, give necessary instructions to the contractor agents, certify payments, discuss problems with the site manager or engineers. They also get to work with people of many different fields like interior designers, urban planners, landscape architects and so on.
Architecture involves a lot of hard work.
In the initial stages of one's career, prospective architects work as assistants to established architects, with low salaries. Long hours and little responsibility characterize these first few years. Over a period of time as junior architects gain some experience, they start designing parts of a building. At this stage they keep in constant touch with the contractor and ensure that the construction conforms to the plans. It is not until a decade or so that most architects get actual opportunities to design and plan buildings as the lead architect.