You can see him sitting hours on end at his drafting table, his drawing lights on, gesticulating, talking to himself translating the images that the client conveyed into tangible and workable designs.

Architects are planners and builders. Their craft takes into consideration the availability of materials, principles of engineering, aesthetics, building codes, local regulations, structural principles and bill of the materials. He must be knowledgeable on the methods that are available to the builder, the ability to negotiate with the builder for the best cost and time frame possible and oversee the construction. Architects must have the capability of understanding the clients environment providing advice and translating the images that was conveyed into a final design. The architect is a planner and a builder. An architect affects landscapes.

Architecture is an old craft. It came from the Greek word arkhitekton or chief builder. Today however, a chief builder, a draughtsman and an architectural technologist may render architectural services but may not necessarily be called an architect. Architects like many professions are required to have a specialized education, a work experience and a license to practice. They are recognized at par with Doctors, Lawyers and Engineers.

It has often been said that what we eat is what we become. By extension, our homes or the edifices that we construct reflect very much what we are. Where we live affects in a very big way what we are trying to tell the world. It is a good approximation of the lifestyles we lead and the attitudes we take. Our homes for example tell people a lot about our preferences and our standards. These are some of the very important factors that the architect has to bring forward in building our homes and the edifices that we want.

Depending on the country where they are practicing their professions, architects are expected to have completed requirements and in many countries these can be stringent.

In the United States, before a person is designated the title of Architect, he is required to have a degree from schools accredited by the NAAB and must have an internship with a licensed architect for three years. After that he has to take and pass a series of examinations from the NCARB or the National Council of Architectural Registration Board.

In some cases though, a person who have not taken a degree in architecture but has worked for a licensed architect for ten years can be allowed to take Architect Registration Examination or the ARE. If he passes that he can be given a license to practice architecture.

In the United States, there are ways and type by which to earn a professional degree in Architecture. The first is the Bachelor in Architecture, which takes five years to finish. After that a documented apprenticeship of three years is required. There is also the Masters Degree in Architecture and the Doctorate in Architecture.

The pre-professional degrees are Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, Bachelor of Science in Architecture, the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Architecture and the Bachelor of Environmental Design these courses takes four years to finish.

All licensed architects in the United States use the suffix RA for Registered Architects. If the architect is a member of the American Institute of Architects, which is a professional organization that provides network services to architects in the United States he also suffixes AIA to signify his affiliation.