The Curious Case of Architecture and Real Estate

After working for two years as an architect, when I finally enrolled at NICMAR (National Institute of Construction Management and Research), Pune to pursue my post-graduation in Real Estate and Urban Infrastructure Management, I got a lot of raised eyebrows from my family and friends. Frankly, my parents found it impossible to explain to my relatives what kind of post-graduation I was pursuing. Their immediate question was, “What does real estate have to do with architecture?”. Then I realized that it is not just people outside the realm but people who have enrolled in the course, including me, who never quite explored the connection between both these domains.

So once this question hit my brain, I started making an extensive list in my journal to answer these two fascinating questions:

Question 1

Why are there so many people from architectural backgrounds wanting to get into real estate?

Question 2

Where do these two intersect exactly? (Architecture and Real Estate)

To answer the first question, I asked a lot of my peers. Mostly, the answer was the substantial increase in the salary scale. Well, it is true, and there is no comparison to that. Secondly, a lot of us who enroll in architecture later realize that we want to be on the other end of it, managing and selling. The thirst for design dies down for some of them, only to discover their passion for the management and business side of it. In some cases, it is the cliché “to expand their horizons.”

It is mostly a combination of two or more of these factors.

Now coming to the second question.

Real estate is essentially the by-product of what architects create. And who else can understand it better than its makers themselves? An architect understands the building they designed like their own child. By the end of a design process, they are fluent in the nitty-gritty of the building, every design challenge, the setbacks, footprint, internal areas, services, shafts, interior, finishes, circulation, and even the landscape. It is a never-ending list. They understand the typology in and out. They spent a long-time positioning and orienting it, so they know when and where the natural light seeps in, the best-selling points of the space as well as the underwhelming ones.

Real estate development necessitates extensive planning, not just in terms of design, but also from the ground up. The documentation is critical, as it entails the architect's approval before the project can be sanctioned. An architect is familiar with all applicable building codes, and their role becomes critical here in ensuring that the developer's or client's requirements are met within the parameters established by the authorities. This is a critical step because it is at this point that actual development on the site begins.

Moreover, architects understand the coordination essential for real estate projects. They are capable of managing and administering tasks effectively and efficiently. An architect's role in the real estate sector is tied to the project's inception to finish. If we desire logical and intelligent development in the real estate sector, the architect's role in designing it becomes critical.

So, the real question here is, "Why not?". Architects understand the codes, numbers, costing, spaces, typology, market and trends. Hence, there is no question that architecture is inseparable from real estate. Apart from all the reasons above, when an architect gets into the real estate field, they also understand the vision behind the design and that way it is not lost in translation.

And in a bright, distant future, when architects earn enough, they can get into this capital-intensive market to design, build, and sell their visualizations, and we can see more "Architect-Developers" in India as well.