Vitruvius on Architect

According to Vitruvius,

“The ideal architect should be a man of letters, a skillful draftsman, a mathematician, familiar with historical studies, a diligent student of philosophy, acquainted with music, not ignorant of medicine, learned in the responses of jurisconsults, familiar with astronomy and astronomical calculations.”

An architect is a person who knows bits of everything, with board perspective of things inside and outside of the context on hand.

Just like wine and cheese, a competent architect takes time to acquire knowledge and mature in thought. The longer and more exposure to elements, the richer and more complex the quality will be.

“I think that one have no right to profess themselves architects hastily, without having climbed from childhood the steps of these studies and thus, nursed by the knowledge of many arts and sciences, having reached the heights of the holy ground of architecture.”

IT industry is flooded with people called themselves ‘architects’ - from college graduates to company veterans. They are either earned or self-proclaimed with the titles like: Client CTO , Solution Architect, Delivery Architect, Program Architect, Enterprise Architect, etc.

“architects who have aimed at acquiring manual skill without scholarship have never been able to reach a position of authority to correspond to their pains, while those who relied only upon theories and scholarship were obviously hunting the shadow, not the substance.”

And the architects I respect and inspire to be are lifelong learners, very strong in articulating their point-of-views, not blindsided with pride and fame, and most importantly not ignorant of the context.

mindmap
  root(Ideal IT Architect)
  ::icon(fa fa-graduation-cap)
    Systems Thinking
    Business Knowledge
    Interpersonal Skills
    Influencing / <br />Leadership Skills
    Understand <br />Technical Architecture
    IT Financial <br />Management Experience
    Time Management
    Exposure to <br />EA Frameworks
    Able to explain <br />IT to Executives
    Presentation Skills
    Coaching Skills
    Understand <br />Data Architecture
    Understand <br />IT Operations
    Big Picture Thinking

Ideal IT Architect is an all-rounder with board experience and skillsets. Having a profile of certifications may be a conversation starter, it is only when having socratic dialogue can we validate if one is a true architect you can trust.