"I always wanted to be an Architect"

As an architect (Suzie) I am often surprised at the reaction I get when I tell people what I do, their eyes open wide as the dream of what that might mean. Often they tell me, "I always wanted to be an architect." Architects often talk about how the romantic notion of what we do often belies the gritty reality of getting buildings built and managing large teams of people. This duality of art, romance and dreams versus the systematic organisational skills we work with day to day, makes  us an interesting breed as a profession.

At double you we were excited to read the latest Architecture Australia, the cover shows the imagery of Naomi Stead, Sandra Kaji-O'Grady and Kate Sweetapple (fabulous names!) These women have set out to explore the persona of the architect.

"Our aim with this project was not just to debunk cliches, to see who architects really are and what they actually look like. We also wanted to take a snapshot portrait of the profession as a collective."

They engaged a photographer Nick Bassett and his assistant Omar Roxas and setup at the 2010 Australian Institute of Architects Conference to capture one hundred and eighty six individuals, see some of the outcomes below (we have included 3 of our friends above!)  The full gallery is available on flickr here > Visual Sociology of Architects