All this analysis concludes that workers with fewer qualifications will be directly replaced by machines - something that is already happening.

We can see this in McDonald’s with food now being ordered directly from a screen and in a couple of years, presumably, taxis will be replaced by autonomous vehicles and what then for taxi drivers?

So how is this process going to affect Architects?

Apparently highly creative professions will be more resilient and their employability rate will resist the worst effects of digitalisation. Despite this, many young architects are desperately upgrading their skillsets rather than choosing to develop their creative attitude. The reality is that being like machines is not the right way to beat them.

Although it is quite true that architecture is a hybrid discipline between creativity, science and technology, the latter is a natural field for machines, and I’m convinced that it is here where we will find the biggest professional replacement. Architects wanting to survive the digital tsunami must reinforce the creative side of the profession. Having this premise in mind, here are my seven tips to last a bit longer as an Architect – although of course, I have no idea for how long!

The star architect, prototype of the Renaissance, died in the 20th Century. We are heading now towards more collaborative, flexible and horizontal ways of working where humility is the most important personal principle. It is imperative to recognise and assume others works and ideas, and to conceive projects as collective efforts in which we are only one part of the solution.

I do believe that the difference between a good and a bad project depends on the human team behind it. To create an integrated team, with the necessary specialists within, is the best guarantee for succeed. An architect on his/her own has not enough knowledge to satisfy all the requirements a project demands.

The work of interior designers, landscapers, graphic and lighting designers is essential in the architectural process. It’s also very important to arrange an agreement with an engineering firm providing a wide scope of services. And, finally, to have a good technical architect, transforming ideas into costs and ensuring good constructive solutions, is critical. To have a team like this is the most important project of every architect.

To keep professionally updated and to be interested is an endless process. It’s not only a matter of postgrad studies, a good option for recent architects or young professionals when they have the money to pay for it. We have many options to follow courses on line and to learn absolutely everything. The main reason to be awake and updated is to maintain a curious and reflexive attitude in everything we do, combining this with a daily routine of reading.

We’re living in a time of changes and uncertainty. Our clients are also worried about their business continuation in a volatile environment, bombarded with disruptive technological innovations. In a context like this, answers are required, and the one who knows how to illuminate the road with new ideas and thoughts is rapidly adopted as an influencer by his/her professional circle