The people designing cathedrals were the finest engineers of their time. Imagine how you would go about suspending a ton of stone 50 feet in the air before industrial machinery, let alone carving it into a nice shape.
I was talking about what architect as a job means today. There are two branches and the technical one exists, because it is needed and useful.
It has nothing to do with culture bullshit, diminished skills and all that, frankly, crap. And if you want experimental architecture and arts, there are plenty of those too. It is just that this guys friend is not that arts guy.