At each recession going back to 1974 I have noticed the type of economic changes that occur as an architect. For one, my profession gets hit very hard. The talent pool dries up and there are less experienced architects left. The younger people going into this profession also then do not get to advance as much in their growth. We will need all these people if and when a real catastrophe occurs.
So what does this have to do with wealth inequality? Over my entire career the proportion of client type is changing. Some of it is just the natural growth of my company. But the Residential client is really changing. We used to work on three plus addition remodels per year. The clients were very cost conscious but willing to pay professional fees to get their custom projects and full services. Now that middle class client is being stretched even farther. This limits their ability to add and modernize their homes in final product and professional services.
The expanding code requirements are also a factor in this calculation. Now it’s the upper end of the middle class and the richer crowd that brings us into their projects. The cost consciousness is still very present. Many of these type projects are investment related as opposed to personal.