Architects are often criticized for designing buildings that do not work well, and construction firms are often criticized for their inefficiencies and failure to improve productivity over time.
While both sets of criticisms include valid points, and architects and contractors should work to improve their processes and performance, there is good a reason that buildings sometimes do not work as well as they should and the construction process in inefficient: designing and constructing buildings is hard.
The modern AEC (architecture/engineering/construction) industry is not really a good place for amateurs and dilettantes, as these two exhibits show:
Exhibit A: The folks who break stuff go broke
Silicon Valley upstart Katerra was going to reinvent the construction industry. Formed in 2015 and flooded with billions of dollars of investments, Katerra is shutting down.
Exhibit B: The continued implosion of the Make It Right Foundation
It’s hard to do good when the Do-Gooders don’t know what they are doing. Let the law suits commence.