By KRISTINA SHEVORY

At the Ballard Farmers’ Market in Seattle on a recent weekend, John Morefield, an architectural designer, was seated at a wooden stand under a sign reading “Architecture 5￠,” with a can nearby awaiting spare change. For a nickel, he would answer any architectural question.

In 2008, Mr. Morefield, 29, lost his job - twice - and thought he could ride out the recession doing design work for friends and family, but when those jobs dried up, he set up his stand. As someone in his 20s without many contacts or an extensive portfolio, he thought he might have an easier time finding clients on his own. “I had no other option,” Mr. Morefield said. “The recession was a real kick in the shorts, and I had to make this work.”

According to the latest data available from the Department of Labor, employment at American architecture firms, which peaked last July at 224,500, had dropped to 184,600 by November.

“It’s hard to find a place to hide when the economy goes down,” said Kermit Baker, the chief economist at the American Institute of Architects. “There aren’t any strong sectors now.”

Mr. Baker doesn’t expect architecture firms to rehire until billings recover, which he thinks won’t be until the second half of this year at the earliest.

In the meantime, many of those who have been laid off are discovering new talents often unrelated to architecture.

When Natasha Case, 26, lost her job as a designer at Walt Disney Imagineering about a year ago, she and her friend Freya Estreller, 27, a real estate developer, started a business selling Ms. Case’s homemade ice cream sandwiches in Los Angeles. Named for architects like Frank Gehry (the strawberry ice cream and sugar cookie Frank Behry) and Mies van der Rohe (the vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate chip cookie Mies Vanilla Rohe), they were an immediate hit.

“I feel this is a good time to try new things,” said Ms. Case, who did a project on the intersection of food and architecture while studying for her master’s in architecture .

With seven full- and part-time employees, they now make enough to support themselves and have plans to expand .

As for Mr. Morefield, he started his booth (and a Web site, architecture- 5cents.com) with the hope that it would bring in sufficient income to get by until he could find another job. As it turned out, he received so many commissions - to build a two-story addition, a deck, a master bedroom - that he realized he could make plenty of money working for himself.

Last year, he made more than $50,000 - the highest salary he ever made working for someone else - and he expects to do even better this year.

“It’s developed into what I was supposed to do,” he said. “It’s a lot of work, it’s scary, but I love every minute of it. If someone offered me $80,000 to sit behind a computer, I wouldn’t do it.”


John Morefield is one of many architects who have had to reinvent themselves. He started a booth offering advice for a nickel; he made $50,000 working on his own last year. / MICHAEL HANSON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES