The Latin word artĭfex came to our language as artifice . This is the name given to the individual who creates or develops something .
The concept is often used in relation to the execution of a work with skill or mastery. In this context, the idea of craftsman often appears as a synonym for artist or author .
For example: “The architect of the victory was the team captain, who scored two goals in the last fifteen minutes of the match” , “The diplomat was recognized as the architect of peace” , “As explained by the architect of the building, his intention was to pay homage to nature through the shapes and materials used in the construction” .
Let's take the case of a non-governmental organization ( NGO ) that is dedicated to protecting the historical heritage of a city. When a project is announced to demolish a 19th-century house and build a skyscraper in its place, this organization starts a campaign to stop the initiative. After promoting demonstrations, giving interviews to the media and holding meetings with the authorities, they manage to have the project suspended. It can therefore be said that the NGO was responsible for the cancellation of the project .
Let us now suppose that a manager who aspires to preside over a football club announces, during his campaign, that if he is elected he will hire a well-known coach and several other figures to aspire to win the championship. Once he wins the elections and begins his term, he keeps his promise and makes the hires; months later, the team is crowned champion. Faced with this reality, journalists point to the president as the main architect of the achievement .
Having said all this, we have seen the two main meanings of the term "artificer": the individual who is the cause of something, that is, the author of a work; someone who carries out a work with skill. The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy also indicates a meaning that has fallen into disuse: a person with a special ability to achieve what he or she sets out to do.
Although this word is used in everyday speech in some relatively formal context, it is not as common as author , for example. Among its other synonyms, we can highlight the following: promoter, creator, artisan and virtuoso . As with many other terms, this one does not have antonyms since if someone is not the author of a work that does not mean that it is the opposite, but rather that they may be a collaborator, an observer or even not be related to it in any way.
Of course, we could argue that in the context of a problem such as those cited in the examples above, those people who could have done something to help others but sit back and do nothing demonstrate an attitude that is practically the opposite of that of the architect . Let us take for a moment the case of the old building that a company plans to demolish to build a skyscraper: if within the NGO that finally stops the project there are some collaborators who know from the outset a legal tool to solve the problem but, for various reasons, do not use it, their omission is contrary to the efforts of those who do defend architectural heritage.
Although there is no single term with which to describe this attitude to perfectly contrast it with the meaning of architect , as if it were two extremes, one can always resort to expressions that denote a lack of commitment and that highlight the contrast with the actions of those who do act towards the objective: "Unlike Juan's absolute inactivity, Marta moved from the beginning and that is why we consider her the architect of the cancellation."