Midcareer Choices

Between the enthusiasm of internship and the expectation of retirement, there lies the great expanse of midcareer. We define “midcareer” as the period between, roughly, the early 30s and the late 40s, a time of life when architects are starting to make career choices akin to crossing the Rubicon: strategizing how to make partner; leaving behind familiar colleagues and routines to launch a solo practice; finding ways to reconcile growing work responsibilities with the work of raising a family. Stay put? Stay nimble? Get out? These are the pressing questions. To give some perspective, ARCHITECT asked nine midcareer architects from around the country to describe how they’re finding fulfillment (and paying the mortgage).