Architects who endured the carnage still wince. The recession shut down one-quarter of all U.S. architecture firms, and clobbered the rest. We're riding a wave, but we're wary of blowing it and getting too cocky. This caution is gradually turning to anxiety. The longer the bull market lasts, the more fretfully architects anticipate its inevitable end.
Nobody believes it can last forever.
Preparing for the downturn is now a routine part of our business. Warning signs Architects are among the first to feel the ebbing of the economic wave because they toil in the conceptual early phase of projects. As a result, they are the economic equivalent of canaries in the mineshaft - a bellwether of trouble to come. They feel the trip lever sooner as fewer and fewer companies commission exploratory work. Shrewd architects are constantly glancing over their shoulders for hints of weakening conditions.