Sketchier Times for City Architects

From Crain's: "As both office and residential development in the city grinds to a halt, architectural firms are scrambling to find more work. They are lowering their fees, chasing smaller projects, seeking more international assignments and bidding on more institutional contracts to generate revenues—all tried-and-true methods employed during past economic slowdowns. But architects fear their traditional coping strategies will fall short as the economy craters. For example, they note that as the recession spreads globally, work is evaporating in former construction hot spots like Dubai and China. Architects also worry that clients that have long provided lifelines, such as municipalities, universities and hospitals, will retreat as donations and taxes shrivel."