Architecture is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings or any other structures. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who earns their living from a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skills necessary to perform their specific role within that profession. In addition, most professionals are subject to strict codes of conduct, enshrining rigorous ethical and moral obligations. Professional standards of practice and ethics for a particular field are typically agreed upon and maintained through widely recognized professional associations, such as the IEEE. Some definitions of "professional" limit this term to those professions that serve some important aspect of public interest and the general good of society.
Architects and engineers are among the most fortunate of men since they build their own monuments with public consent, public approval and often public money.
The modern age has in most cases failed with the rebuilding of old cities destroyed in the war and shown itself incapable of recreating the complex grain of places which took centuries to evolve. Clearly our modern architectural vocabulary just isn't up to the job.
Dieter Scholzel (architect); reported in Friends of Dresden declarations (2003).
Perhaps all professions ... are filled with hostility toward the individual, saturated with hatred by those who find themselves mute and sullen in an insipid duty.