The tri-state area’s designers were on the front lines of a construction market choking on its excesses in 2008. Today, even if temporarily, most of the rampage seems to be over, but there is little cause for excessive optimism: colleagues across the three states remain unemployed, projects are stalled, and there are few indicators that the federal or state governments will come to the rescue to the extent they did in previous downturns. Among those still standing, there’s a growing consensus that business as usual is over, and the industry as a whole will need to reinvent itself to stay relevant.
“We as architects seem to be the canaries of the economy, because we’re the first ones hit when projects stop,” said Jason Kliwinski, president of the AIA New Jersey chapter.