I want to improve people’s lives.
I want to make the world a better place.
I want to be an Architect.

Internship places its weight and value heavily upon “conventional” architectural practice, further truncating architecture’s possibility and potential reach. How might internship better accommodate some of our most willing and capable, effective and talented, young architects on their “alternative” paths?

There ARE different ways of “Doing Architecture. ”We“ Do”Community Design. We “Do” Planning and Consultation. We “Do” Research and Education. Yet, internship has not established SUBSTANTIVE benchmarks for such substantive accomplishments.

We should expand upon internship’s inherent limitations, and reign - in the real gamut of Architecture’s range; We could better serve the REAL needs of communities and families; We, the Architecture Community, could legitimately call Community and Public Service our Own.

1) There should be intermediary, but REAL, certifications and licensures. The establishment of benchmarks - qualifications with corollary, consequence - could open the architectural field, broadening what - it - is - to - BE, ARCHITECT; and therefore, and for our public, what - it - is to inhabit buildings.

Intern Architects should be able to call “Architecture” their Own.

2) There should be REAL, substantive, certifications for Licensed Architects that encourage, educate, and produce Architects with these “off-shoot, ”notable credibilities.

Architects should be able to call Internship their Own.

Internship’s current singular goal reads more as limitation than aspiration. It has deteriorated our collective architectural spirit (and our built environment), while our experience has articulated things far different, far more REAL, and far more qualitatively rich and rewarding.