Single-family house, approximately 160m², Bauhaus style; first draft according to our wishes

I don’t really understand why it escalated so quickly? At the beginning of the thread you still wrote: What leads to such a radical change of mind? Because I don’t believe that it will be easier/better with another architect.

I didn’t understand that either.

Well, there have been enough users here who “coerced” him and even encouraged him to cancel the contract, foremost our successful business consultant... How often was the architect called useless?

Just because a forum, so several people, criticize the same thing, so 1 to 2 points and, roughly speaking, say it can be done much better, doesn’t mean you just change the architect! You don’t just change an architect like a supermarket chain.

I also like to mention repeatedly – with the names of the respective thread starters and/or links to the relevant threads – examples of successful designs and realized construction projects. So no one should take away only the negative "Your architect should pay back his tuition fees" from my posts, but also the positive "look there, this is how it works, resulting in satisfied homeowners."

That a) doesn’t matter at all b) is quite naive and falls into the topic "favorite floor plan, I want exactly THAT one" Where we, who have spent a little time in the forum here, know exactly that designs have to fit the plot, budget, and wishes. This showing off like "look how awesome the architect implemented that for user123, compared to that yours is a sausage" I consider absolutely wrong. It unsettles the original poster, who lets themselves be guided, wants to show strength instead of putting the architect in their place, and ends up with a bill of €13,000, a delay, and now also has to look for another one.

The problem, besides the sunk money in the end, is also whether you actually find something better in the current boom phase. Maybe you just have to "spur on" the guy a bit. If it were me, he wouldn’t have it easy and we would have long since been sitting together at the drawing board or with the lawyer.

I don’t know what you communicated on the phone, but there was obviously a contract. You had your floor plans discussed here.
What you are doing now is shabby,

Now you are the bad one!

Hello Yvonne,

yes, you are right, which is why my wife and I called the architect earlier and spoke with him.
We expressed our opinion and the disappointment that he seemingly put his concept above our wishes and requirements and offered him again to "start from scratch." He expressed his disinterest in that and said he no longer wants to work with us. I don’t know if my scenario is so far-fetched.

It is undisputed – he has delivered a service – but whether it is worth 13,000 EUR is something I doubt.
If I were to approach the issue the same way as the architect, I would have to "split hairs" and break down every item.
I will think about an amount over the weekend and offer it to him in writing. How high that will be? No idea yet… I’m just burning through a budget that would be better invested elsewhere...

If the architect, as I am now just assuming, sent the offer by mail and you then negotiated and concluded by phone, a distance contract might apply here. If you were not informed about your right of withdrawal in this regard, you could still revoke the contract now and the architect would not be entitled to any fee.

We still do not have an offer, neither by mail nor in paper form.

A flat rate of 55,000 for service phases 1-8 means 13,200€ corresponds to about 23.5% of the total fee, which again roughly corresponds to service phases 1-3. I don’t know what exactly happened with you, but in my opinion you are still in the area of "preliminary planning" (service phase 2), fancy CAD drawings don’t change that.
Just try feeding the search engine with the terms "partial service table, Siemon" and compare. I see a maximum fee of around 5k here.

I looked at the table, there are indeed good pointers that can support an argument – thanks.

I also don’t quite understand why it escalated so quickly?

At the beginning of the thread you still wrote:

What caused such a radical change of mind? Because I don’t believe it will be easier/better with another architect.

Honestly, I think the positive opinion was also due to the “inexperienced” eye. Certainly, I have listened to the experienced eyes here, and the impression my wife and I got was that the architect is not really good. But it also became clear to us that he puts his concept above our wishes (rectangle vs. cube) and does not implement our wishes (island kitchen). One thing led to another and we made the decision accordingly. The phone call from earlier unfortunately didn’t bring much, so now we will come out of this with a loss. That annoys me a little, but I have to bear the consequences now.

Well, there have been enough users here who "forced" him and even encouraged him to cancel the contract, including our successful business consultant... How often was the architect called useless?

That’s true, nevertheless I must say, the arguments were simply valid...

The problem beside the sunk money in the end is also whether you can actually find something better in the current boom phase. Maybe you just have to “spur” the guy on a bit. With me, he wouldn’t have it easy and we would have long been sitting together at the drawing board or with the lawyer.

…and how do you want to spur him on if he has no interest? I think our status as “greenhorns” was also used a bit here… (at least I believe that)

I don't believe that it gets easier/better with another architect.

In communication, both sender AND receiver must understand each other – if that's not working, a new broom works just as poorly.

I think this showing off like "look how awesome the architect implemented this for User123, compared to yours is a sausage" is absolutely wrong.

I see it the same way, which is why I only name / link appropriate threads. With 's budget, bigger windows are no big deal, and with 's plot you can easily move the carport half a meter away from the fence, so neither are "generally exemplary". Accordingly, I "quote" them rarely, and , or more often.

That's true, however I must also say that the arguments were simply valid...

And they were by far not only from me, and also not all against the designs or in favor of a change.

..and how do you want to motivate him if he has no interest? I think our existence as "Greenhorn" was also somewhat exploited here.. (at least I think so)

Oh, the gentleman has no desire anymore. Well, that’s quite a fine trick. The artist is piqued. I especially like those guys.