Does taking an architecture role relegate one to an ivory tower of high-level abstractions, processes and governance? Absolutely not!
Architects are responsible for ensuring there's no gap between high-level designs they create and what is ultimately implemented by developers. If an architect articulates those designs in high-level pattern language that is not readily consumable by the engineers, it's not good enough.
Architects have to provide clear translation of what those patterns mean in terms of CODE - be it draft implementation of core abstractions and key interfaces, pseudo-code explaining the patter, etc. But 'naked' high-level design documents are usually insufficient.
Architects are responsible for ensuring there's no gap between high-level designs they create and what is ultimately implemented by developers. If an architect articulates those designs in high-level pattern language that is not readily consumable by the engineers, it's not good enough.
Architects have to provide clear translation of what those patterns mean in terms of CODE - be it draft implementation of core abstractions and key interfaces, pseudo-code explaining the patter, etc. But 'naked' high-level design documents are usually insufficient.
